JAWS PLAY, THE SHARK IS BROKEN... IS BACK!
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the theatre, the play about the making of Jaws, co-written and starring the son of Jaws legend, Robert Shaw, is set to resurface.
That's right, with the hugely original anticipated London show being swallowed by the waves of Covid last year, many thought we were gonna need a bigger miracle to see The Shark Is Broken on stage again anytime soon.
But now, the stunning show is finally set to have its West End debut at the Ambassadors Theatre, for a 14 week run from October 9 2021 - January 15 2022.
That means we'll get the interior of the Orca, along with the mesmerising Ian Shaw as Robert Shaw - you will believe his dad is in the very room - and an astounding Liam Murray Scott - and his city hands - as Hooper.
Hooper's not driving the boat on this production though, that's director Guy Masterson, who also navigated it to success through the notoriously choppy waters of The Edinburgh Fringe.
But before that, it had two preview performances in Brighton. And The Daily Jaws was there to witness what can only be described as Jaws history in the making.
In our original review, we said: It’s a Jaws de force, intimate yet epic in scope at the same time. It also demands to be seen by a much wider audience.
FURTHER READING: The Shark Is Broken Review: You're Gonna Need A Bigger Theatre
And now, that is finally going to happen. The Daily Jaws have been hugely proud to have been supporters of The Shark Is Broken since it was first announced, with two interviews with Ian Shaw, him even filming us an inspired intro to our mighty Jaws WeMake last year.
Ian Shaw with the same brand can his dad Robert Shaw, crushed in the original Jaws.
Hook us up another barrel, as we can't wait to get back to seeing the actors playing Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss, dressed exactly like the characters of Brody, Quint and Hooper.
Asked about the play, Ian told The Daily Jaws: "It’s a behind the scenes exploration of the relationships between the three stars - Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider. It’s funny, interesting and moving."
There is one thing you can can be 'Shaw' of, this is the nearest you will get to time trevelling to the filming of Jaws on Martha's Vineyard in 1974.
Instantly, it has become as an essential a text regarding the making of the original summer blockbuster, as Carl Gottlieb's The Jaws Log and The Shark Is Still Working documentary.
The Shark Is Broken, co-written by Ian and Joseph Nixon, is a stroke of creative genius, showing that it’s not just Steven Spielberg that delivers a satisfying Jaws. It's not just must-see theatre, it's essential viewing for any fan of the film or cinema.
We were lucky enough to speak to Ian about the project a couple of years ago, at that time we asked him how the play, which is based on part on his dad's diaries, came about.
He said: "In 2005 I played Colonel Tibbets in a drama-documentary called Hiroshima. He was the commanding officer of the Enola Gay, so he was the one who received the atomic bomb from the USS Indianapolis.
"I thought of my father delivering the Bomb to me, suffering the horrors of being torpedoed and under shark attack, and thought that was a surreal connection.
"Years later I lay in bed one night thinking about Jaws, and also the wonderful The Jaws Log by Carl Gottlieb, and I thought it might be interesting to tell the story of the three actors waiting on the Orca while the shark was broken. So I sketched out some ideas - there were some subjects that interested me, particularly alcoholism, art vs commercialism, ego vs teamwork, boredom, neurosis.
"Then I shelved the idea as being too personal, and potentially tasteless. It came back when I discussed it with a writer friend, Jospeh Nixon, who thought it was a story that should be told. So we wrote it together in the end. I still had my doubts, but when my family read it and approved of it, I felt it should be staged. I am about my father’s age when he played Quint, so this has to be the time to do it!"
You can read that full interview with Ian Shaw here: Resurrecting Quint: Robert Shaw’s son on bringing the Jaws legend back to life
Visit thesharkisbroken.com for more info.
Words Dean Newman