The Shark Is Broken: West End Show Me The Way To Go Home
Reviews for The Shark Is Broken have been coming in quicker than tourists to Amity Island on the fourth of July weekend, and the cast and crew behind this monster hit about the making of Jaws can smile like a son of bitch about what is being said, with What’s On Stage calling it “utterly splendid.”
Neil Norman, writing for The Express, said that the “play is a funny and occasionally touching account of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans” of the making of Jaws. Whilst Dominic Cavendish, in The Telegraph called it “a small-scale delight” and The Stage said it was “beautifully realised.”
Chortle were keen to point out, along with several others, “not that it matters whether you’ve seen Jaws to enjoy The Shark Is Broken,” and BritishTheatre.com didn’t mince their words when they simply called it a “tour de force production.”
The Evening Standard, who gave the show five stars, said that Ian Shaw – playing his dad Robert Shaw - “gives what is undoubtedly one of the best theatrical performances of the year. Flitting between machismo and vulnerability, he delivers a hilarious and moving performance that’s exhilarating to watch.”
That is something echoed in the four-star review in The Express, where Norman notes that “Shaw Jr is the living image of his Dad and inhabits his cantankerous character in a candid yet affectionate tribute.”
And Chortles announces Ian Shaw’s rendition of the iconic USS Indianapolis speech – a classic of cinema not just the film, period – as “masterfully mesmeric.”
And the rest of the cast, Liam Murray Scott playing Richard Dreyfuss and Demetri Goritsas playing Roy Scheider, have also been getting rave reviews.
The Telegraph said that “Liam Murray Scott’s (performance is) endearingly all at sea Dreyfuss,” with BritishTheatre.com deliciously saying that “Liam Murray Scott has an exactness to the boundless energy he brings to the part of Richard Dreyfuss that is a masterclass in playing a living person. So acute is his loveable portrayal of Dreyfuss’ annoying arrogance there are moments where he stops just short of our hoping that either Goritsas or Shaw would push him overboard.” Wow.
And Metro enthused that “Demetri is pitch-perfect” as Roy Scheider, with What’s On Stage chipping in that “Goritsas' Scheider is infinitely likeable and laidback, the kind of bloke you wouldn't mind being stuck on a shoot with.”
Chortle also praised the “lean direction” of Guy Masterson, with What’s On Stage wowed at Duncan Henderson’s “handsome boat set,” after all it is essentially a fourth character.
After The Daily Jaws – the world’s number one Jaws fan site - first saw The Shark Is Broken in Brighton, ahead of it wowing the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019, we always said that it was gonna need a bigger stage.
Now, having got that at The Ambassador’s Theatre in the West End, and with such great reviews from critics and public alike, it is surely gonna need a bigger run?
Ross Williams, founder and director of The Daily Jaws, said: “Put simply, The Shark Is Broken is the biggest thing to happen to Jaws since Jaws was released in 1975. It’s an important moment in Jaws history, its ripple effect for old and new Jaws fans alike will be felt for many years to come.”