Play explores infamous feud between Jaws actors – and the mechanical shark that didn’t work
Jaws is one of the cinematic greats.
Steven Spielberg’s 1975 shark attack flick received wide critical acclaim upon its release, winning praise for its storytelling, visual effects and the actors’ performances.
And while things looked great on the screen, behind the scenes, the lead actors were trapped in an infamous feud – the subject of a new West End play.
Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss on the set of Jaws in 1975. Pic: Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock
For the uninitiated, Jaws is set in the beach town of Amity Island, and kicks off when a young woman heads out for a swim in the ocean.
But chaos ensues when she is brutally attacked and her remains are dumped on the shore.
After lengthy discussions (and another death in plain view of the beach), the blame is placed at the fins of a huge shark, and a bounty is placed on it.
An amateur shark hunt ensues, with fisherman Quint (played by Robert Shaw) offering his services to police chief Brody (Roy Scheider) and oceanographer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) who band together to try and kill the blood-thirsty shark.
It was on this boat, The Orca, that the actors, who weren’t exactly the best of friends, were forced into close quarters during a pause in shooting due to the lousy weather out at sea and a mechanical, toothy co-star that refused to play ball.
Like father like son – Robert Shaw is being played by his son, Ian. Pics: Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock & Helen Maybanks
It’s also where play The Shark Is Broken begins.
“It’s kind of gone into legend really, because the difficulties they had with the mechanical shark were extensive,” Ian Shaw told Sky News – the show’s co-writer who also stars as his father, Robert.
“These three actors, with very distinctive personalities and at different stages in their careers, were kind of stuck together.
“We all know what it’s like to be in confined spaces, you know? And with different personalities, there can be quite a clash, and there certainly was between Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw.
“My father was an established actor, had seen it all and was also a distinguished writer – I think that him and Richard just didn’t get on, but Richard does say that on occasion, in private, that they did.
“So then it’s interesting as to whether my father was doing it partly to get a better performance out of Richard.”
The warring on set is almost as famous as the film itself, and added to the production’s woes – it was had gone way over budget and filming took three times longer than scheduled.
Liam Murray Scott (Richard Dreyfuss) and Ian Shaw (Robert Shaw) will play out the actors’ spat on stage. Pic: Helen Maybanks
“I think there was a little bit of edge in real life between Robert and Richard, and that does show on the screen,” Shaw added.
So what is it like having a combination of your father, a block-busting classic film, and a legendary actors’ feud as source material?
“I didn’t want to do it initially,” Shaw admitted.
“When I first mooted the idea, which I thought was possibly a good idea, I thought ‘I’m studiously trying to avoid association with my father in the first place’, and then to write something about my dad, which might not show him in his greatest light was a concern.
“I felt very reluctant to to engage upon it. But I do think it’s a good story.
Shooting was stalled in the film thanks to some problems with a mechanical co-star… Pic: Helen Maybanks
“I think that as we (Shaw, with fellow writer Joseph Nixon) were going through the process, we found that it became a bit more universal. One of the themes is fathers and sons, which they all talk about in in the play, and then it stopped being about me and my dad, and it started to become more of a conversation about fathers and sons in general – so that put me at ease.”
In The Shark Is Broken, The Orca is just as much as part of the story as the feuding thespians, with the challenge to bring the vessel to stage given to Duncan Henderson.
The boat (of “you’re gonna need a bigger boat” fame) features heavily in the latter part of Jaws, but thanks to some creative license, in the play it is the only location – and where the stars began to bare their teeth, fuelled by booze and ambition.
It’s an impressive structure sat on the stage of London’s Ambassadors Theatre, with a small cabin, a table and a collection of seafaring trash that the group would have ended up with on their travels.
The Orca becomes the setting for the London play. Pic: Helen Maybanks
“We wanted the boat, we wanted more than just the cabin and we wanted to get it as rich as possible,” Henderson explained to Sky News.
“We stuff the forward cabin full of detritus from the film… they’re all questioning their self-worth in their various ways, their value to the world and their value to the film industry specifically, so if we are packing them to the gunnels with all this detritus, it’s more likely to increase this sense of claustrophobia.”
It’s important to say The Orca in the stage play, is different to The Orca in the film – which underlines a point the creative team wants to make: this isn’t Jaws on stage.
Henderson says: “Our experience at the Edinburgh Festival (where the play first ran) was that some of the people in the audience are there because they just love the film and they really want to see what we’ve done, but there are also people there that love human beings, and they want to see the nature of that playing out and everything in between.
“Film fans generally love seeing a little bit of behind the scenes of the friction between [the actors], so it caters for everyone, this particular thing and it’s not exact.”
Demetri Goritsas (Roy Scheider) and Ian Shaw (Robert Shaw) in The Shark is Broken. Pic: Helen Maybanks
Shaw adds: “It doesn’t require a watching of Jaws.
“It’s a comedy, first and foremost… I think it’s on occasion moving, but predominantly it is a comedy – so I think audiences will hopefully laugh and be entertained and stimulated.”
The Shark Is Broken runs until January at the Ambassadors Theatre in London, with tickets available now.
The Salt Path author Raynor Winn’s fourth book has been delayed by her publisher.
It comes amid claims that the author lied about her story in her hit first book. Winn previously described the claims as “highly misleading” and called suggestions that her husband had Moth made up his illness “utterly vile”.
In a statement, Penguin Michael Joseph, said it had delayed the publication of Winn’s latest book On Winter Hill – which had been set for release 23 October.
The publisher said the decision had been made in light of “recent events, in particular intrusive conjecture around Moth’s health”, which it said had caused “considerable distress” to the author and her family.
“It is our priority to support the author at this time,” the publisher said.
“With this in mind, Penguin Michael Joseph, together with the author, has made the decision to delay the publication of On Winter Hill from this October.”
A new release date will be announced in due course, the publisher added.
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Winn’s first book, released in 2018, detailed the journey she and husband took along the South West Coast Path – familiarly known as The Salt Path – after they lost their family farm and Moth received a terminal health diagnosis of Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD).
But a report in The Observer disputed key aspects of the 2018 “true” story – which was recently turned into a film starring Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson.
Raynor and husband Moth (centre) with actors Jason Isaacs (L) and Gillian Anderson (R). Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
Experts ‘sceptical of health claims’
As part of the article, published last weekend, The Observer claimed to have spoken to experts who were “sceptical” about elements of Moth’s terminal diagnosis, such as a “lack of acute symptoms and his apparent ability to reverse them”.
In the ensuing controversy, PSPA, a charity that supports people with CBD, cut ties with the couple.
The Observer article also claimed the portrayal of a failed investment in a friend’s business wasn’t true, but said the couple – whose names are Sally and Tim Walker – lost their home after Raynor Winn embezzled money from her employer and had to borrow to pay it back and avoid police action.
Anderson played Winn in a movie about the couple’s journey. Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
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It also said that, rather than being homeless, the couple had owned a house in France since 2007.
Winn’s statement said the dispute with her employer wasn’t the reason the couple lost their home – but admitted she may have made “mistakes” while in the job.
“For me it was a pressured time,” she wrote. “It was also a time when mistakes were being made in the business. Any mistakes I made during the years in that office, I deeply regret, and I am truly sorry.”
She admitted being questioned by police but said she wasn’t charged.
The author also said accusations that Moth lied about having CBD/CBS were false and had “emotionally devastated” him.
“I have charted Moth’s condition with such a level of honesty, that this is the most unbearable of the allegations,” Winn wrote on her website.
The first fan started queuing before 8am.
Heaton Park, just north of Manchester City centre, is tonight hosting 80,000 fans who’ve come to see the Gallaghers’ homecoming.
“I would honestly say it’s a real cultural moment of the 21st century,” says Sam, who’s from Manchester and has come here with a group of friends – including one who has travelled from Australia for the gig.
Oasis fans wear band T-shirts with the almost obligatory bucket hats. Pic: Reuters
This will be the fourth time Sam has seen Oasis play, although obviously not for many years, and he says he can’t wait for the moment the band comes on to the stage.
“The reaction from the fans, that’s going to be really special,” he says. “This band means so much to the North West.”
Like many people attending tonight’s concert, Sam is wearing a bucket hat.
Liam Gallagher’s iconic headgear has become a part of the band’s cultural legacy and they are certainly on display here, with street vendors popping up all around the park’s perimeter.
Another fan, Dean, tells me he feels incredibly lucky to have got a ticket at all.
“I had seven devices out when the tickets were released and I didn’t get one,” he says. “And then about three days ago, a friend of mine messaged to say she couldn’t make it.
“So I made it. £120 with coach travel there and back – perfect.”
Dom has flown from half a world away to be in Manchester tonight
Dom is another fan who has come from Australia for the gig.
“We’re frothing to be here, like so stoked,” he says, “The atmosphere is going to be electric.”
Read more:
Review – Oasis reunite for first gig in 16 years
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One young couple are here on their honeymoon. From Italy, they met at a Liam Gallagher concert several years ago.
“It’s where we fell in love,” Claudia says. “And we got married last month so we wanted to be here to celebrate.”
Amanda, from Manchester, is also here with a loved one – well, sort of.
Amanda has found a way to make sure her son, who lives in Australia, is there in spirit
She’s wearing a paper cut-out mask of her 30-year-old son Harry’s face.
“He’s in Melbourne and got a ticket but then couldn’t come,” Amanda explains.
“And so Harry doesn’t feel left out,” she says pulling the mask down over her face, “we’ve brought him with us!”
Entertainment
Chris Brown: R&B singer denies further charges following alleged bottle attack in London club
R&B singer Chris Brown has denied further charges following an alleged bottle attack in a London nightclub.
The 36-year-old pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) to music producer Abraham Diaw, during a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.
Brown also denied one count of having an offensive weapon – a bottle – in a public place.
Chris Brown arriving at Southwark Crown Court on Friday. Pic: PA
The Grammy-winning US musician last month pleaded not guilty to a more serious charge of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent to Mr Diaw.
The attack allegedly happened at the Tape venue, a private members’ club in Hanover Square, Mayfair, on 19 February 2023.
The plea hearing is part of preparations for his five to seven-day trial, which is due to take place from 26 October 2026.
Brown’s co-defendant, US national Omololu Akinlolu, 39, on Friday pleaded not guilty to a charge of assaulting Mr Diaw occasioning him actual bodily harm.
Akinlolu, a rapper who goes by the name Hoody Baby, has previously pleaded not guilty to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.
Brown’s co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu arrives at court. Pic: Reuters
The defendants sat side-by-side in the dock, looking straight ahead during the hearing in London.
Around 20 fans sat in the public gallery behind the dock for Friday’s hearing, with several gasping as Brown walked into the courtroom.
The Go Crazy singer was able to continue with his scheduled international tour after he was freed on conditional bail in May.
He had to pay a £5m security fee to the court as part of the bail agreement, which is a financial guarantee to ensure a defendant returns to court and may be forfeited if they breach bail conditions.
Read more:
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Mr Diaw was standing at the bar of the Tape nightclub when he was struck several times with a bottle, and then pursued to a separate area of the venue where he was punched and kicked repeatedly, Manchester Magistrates’ Court previously heard.
Brown was arrested at Manchester’s Lowry Hotel at 2am on 15 May by detectives from the Metropolitan Police.
He is said to have flown into Manchester Airport on a private jet in preparation for the UK tour dates.
Brown was released from HMP Forest Bank in Salford, Greater Manchester, on 21 May.
The singer, who rose to stardom as a teenager in 2005, won his first Grammy award for best R&B album in 2011 for F.A.M.E..
He earned his second in the same category for 11:11 (Deluxe) earlier this year.
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