How one of Hollywood’s greatest disasters became one of theatre’s smartest comedies
By Liane Morris
The novel that started it all
In 1974, bestselling author Peter Benchley published Jaws, a thriller about a great white shark terrorising a small beach town. The novel became an international sensation almost overnight, spending months on bestseller lists and capturing the imagination and fears of millions of readers.
Peter Benchley never intended to create one of the most enduring movie monsters in history. In fact, by the end of his life, he’d become one of sharks’ greatest defenders. The author who made millions afraid to swim, later devoted himself to teaching the world that these much-maligned predators deserved protection, not persecution. It’s an extraordinary twist and proof that sometimes the legacy of a story continues to evolve long after the final page is written.
Spielberg takes the bait
Steven Spielberg speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con International, for “Ready Player One”, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Image Gage Skidmore
Just a year after the novel was published, a young director named Steven Spielberg turned the novel into what would become one of the most influential films ever made. When Universal Pictures offered the young Steven Spielberg the chance to direct Jaws, he saw more than a thriller about a killer shark. Fresh from the critically acclaimed but commercially disappointing The Sugarland Express, Spielberg recognised Peter Benchley’s page-turning novel as an opportunity to tell a gripping story about ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances. Ironically, his determination to shoot on the real ocean rather than in a studio tank created the very production problems that nearly sank the film. Those same setbacks would ultimately inspire the suspenseful style that made Jaws a cinematic masterpiece… and, nearly fifty years later, provide the inspiration for The Shark Is Broken.
Released in 1975, Jaws didn’t simply scare audiences out of the water, it fundamentally changed the movie business. It became the first film to earn more than $100 million at the American box office, pioneered the concept of the modern summer blockbuster, and went on to win three Academy Awards, including Best Film Editing, Best Original Score for John Williams’ unforgettable two-note theme, and Best Sound. It was also nominated for Best Picture.
But here’s the twist.
The making of Jaws was, by almost every account, an absolute nightmare.
The shark that almost sank Hollywood
Filming on the open ocean around Martha’s Vineyard was plagued by bad weather, technical delays and a mechanical shark that spent as much time broken as it did working. Salt water quickly began corroding the shark’s hydraulic and pneumatic systems. Seals leaked, hoses burst, internal mechanisms rusted, and electrical components failed. Seaweed became tangled in moving parts, and sometimes the 25-foot predator simply refused to move at all. On more than one occasion, it sank beneath the waves and had to be recovered.
Spielberg later joked that he had made “a movie about a shark that wouldn’t swim,” and the crew referred to the film as “Flaws”.
Nicknamed “Bruce”, there were actually three versions of the shark designed for different camera angles and all were as faulty as each other, bringing production to a standstill and sending the schedule (55 days blew out to 159) and budget spiralling ($4million to $9million). Spielberg would later admit he genuinely feared the film might end his career before it had properly begun.
Ironically, those constant breakdowns may have created movie history.
Unable to show the shark as often as planned, Spielberg relied on suggestion rather than spectacle. The audience saw ripples, floating barrels, terrified reactions and heard that unforgettable music long before they saw the shark itself. The result was a masterclass in suspense that many critics believe made the film even more terrifying.
Three actors. One boat. Endless waiting.
Rather than retelling the story of Jaws, The Shark Is Broken is a clever, funny and surprisingly moving play that explores what was happening while everyone was waiting for the shark to be repaired.
Imagine three actors stranded together on a small fishing boat for days on end.
No cameras rolling.
Nowhere to go.
Nothing to do but wait.
The endless delays created an unexpected side effect. While technicians wrestled with Bruce’s latest mechanical failure, actors Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss often found themselves marooned aboard the Orca for hours at a time. There was nowhere to go, nothing to rehearse and little to do except talk. They debated acting, drank, argued, laughed, philosophised and waited. Those long stretches between takes would become every bit as legendary as the troubled production itself and decades later, they would provide the inspiration for a remarkable stage play.
A son discovers his father again
What makes The Shark Is Broken especially remarkable is who wrote it. Co-writer Ian Shaw was just a young boy of 4 when his father, Robert Shaw, played the grizzled shark hunter Quint, and he was just 8 years old when his father died. Decades later, after catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror sporting a moustache for another acting role, Ian was struck by how closely he resembled his late father. That uncanny moment sparked an idea. Drawing on his father’s diaries, production accounts and the celebrated behind-the-scenes memoir The Jaws Log by screenwriter Carl Gottlieb, he and playwright Joseph Nixon imagined the conversations that might have unfolded aboard the Orca. The result is more than a comedy about a troubled film shoot, it’s a son’s affectionate attempt to better understand the father he lost far too soon.
The idea proved an immediate hit.
From Fringe Festival to Broadway
Like the film that inspired it, The Shark Is Broken enjoyed an unlikely rise. After a brief three-night premiere in Brighton, the play surfaced at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it relied on little more than three actors, a brilliantly crafted replica of the Orca and a razor-sharp script. In a festival overflowing with thousands of productions, it quickly became one of the breakout successes, selling out its run and adding extra performances. Its word-of-mouth success caught the attention of celebrated producer Sonia Friedman, who championed the play’s transfer to London’s West End, where it received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play. After its successful West End run, the play transferred to Broadway in 2023, where it played a limited engagement at the John Golden Theatre. Critics praised its sharp wit, emotional depth and the remarkable performance of co-writer Ian Shaw, who portrayed his own father, Robert Shaw. What began as an intimate behind-the-scenes comedy has since become an international theatrical success story in its own right.
What’s remarkable is that you don’t need to be a Jaws fanatic to enjoy it.
More than a play about a movie
Yes, there are plenty of affectionate nods for film lovers. There are stories from the set, behind-the-scenes references and moments that will delight anyone who knows the movie. But at its heart, The Shark Is Broken is about three very different people trapped together under extraordinary circumstances. It’s about ambition, ego, friendship, fame, creativity and the strange pressure of trying to make something great when everything seems to be going wrong.
It’s also genuinely funny.
After all, if you’ve spent weeks trapped on a tiny boat waiting for a temperamental mechanical shark to cooperate, you’d either develop a sense of humour… or swim home.
Nearly fifty years after Jaws first terrified audiences, its legacy continues to ripple through popular culture. The film remains one of the most celebrated thrillers ever made, while the extraordinary story of its chaotic production has become almost as legendary as the movie itself.
The Shark Is Broken offers audiences something refreshingly different: not another adaptation, prequel or sequel, but a witty and deeply human look behind the curtain. It’s a reminder that even the most iconic works of art are created by imperfect people navigating impossible situations and sometimes, when everything appears to be falling apart, magic happens anyway.
Or, in this case, the shark breaks… and theatre history is made.
The story behind one of cinema’s greatest legends
Now, audiences have the opportunity to experience that remarkable story for themselves as Stoddart Entertainment Group and Storeyboard Entertainment bring The Shark Is Broken to the stage. Whether you’re a lifelong Jaws fan, a lover of great theatre, or simply fascinated by the stories behind cultural icons, this razor-sharp comedy offers an unforgettable glimpse into one of Hollywood’s most legendary productions. It’s funny, insightful, nostalgic and unexpectedly moving. It’s also a celebration of the chaos, creativity and camaraderie that can exist behind even the most polished masterpiece.
After all, everyone knows the shark. This is the story of the men who had to wait for it.