Production photos of original West End cast of The Shark Is Broken

“It was a crazy idea, fraught with danger” writer and actor Ian Shaw recalls when considering staging the now global hit The Shark Is Broken, which took Broadway and the West End by storm, and opens at Oxford Playhouse on Thursday (Jan 23).

The Shark Is Broken is set during the filming of Jaws on The Orca, and depicts the three actors (Robert Shaw and young Hollywood hotshots Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheide) during the filming of Steven Spielberg’s epic movie, when weather and mechanics conspire to halt filming. As the waves roll, and the booze flows, tempers flare and egos erupt.

The Shark is Broken tour cast in rehearsals. Ian Shaw as his father, Robert Shaw, Dan Fredenburgh as Roy Scheider and Ashley Margolis as Richard Dreyfuss

But when you consider that Captain Quint was played by his father Robert Shaw, and you can understand Ian’s reticence to give the project the green light: “I was worried it would backfire, reflect badly on my dad or be seen as cashing in on his fame, so I always avoided anything that looked like I was riding on my father’s coat tails,” Ian explains.

‘Tickets started selling out, people queueing round the block to see it, celebrities and producers all vying for tickets. There was a real buzz about it’

“Because even though we all loved him, he was a complicated man and an alcoholic, so I thought my family would be against it, but actually they were all very encouraging.”

The West End cast of The Shark Is Broken

While talking it over with a friend in a pub in London, Ian was eventually persuaded to write the play anyway, and to see what he came up with.

‘I feel very peaceful now in my relationship with my father which wasn’t always the case when I was younger’

The resulting, hilarious and moving script, (co-written with Joseph Nixon) was then taken to Edinburgh Fringe, Ian expecting it to “sell a few tickets and then tour a few village halls.”

“But then a really strange thing happened. Tickets started selling out, people queueing round the block to see it, celebrities and producers all vying for tickets. There was a real buzz about it,” he remembers.

Ian Shaw as his father

Ian had an instant hit on his hands, The Shark Is Broken transferring straight to the West End (which is almost unheard of) and then on to Broadway.

“Part of that was about people’s love of Jaws and the nostalgia around it, but I’m still incredible grateful that the public liked the play for itself,” Ian says.

As for playing his own father, who died when Ian was young, Ian wasn’t deterred. “I knew him better than most. I think like him and look like him so I seemed the obvious choice. There is a lot of my father in me so it felt quite seamless.”

The West End cast of The Shark Is Broken

But more than that, Ian says he found the whole experience deeply cathartic. “Maybe it’s an age thing, but it was the chance to unburden myself, because when someone dies you keep a relationship going with them and through this process I felt the burden lighten and got rid of a lot of baggage.

‘There was so much I found out about my father through this play, so much to admire about him – he was so fearless’

“I feel very peaceful now in my relationship with my father which wasn’t always the case when I was younger, even though I always loved him. But there was always a tension there which has now disappeared.”

“Plus there was so much I found out about my father through the research for this play, so much to admire about him – he was so fearless – so yes I felt closer to him by the end.”

Rehearsals for The Shark Is Broken tour which opens in Oxford

Discovering his predilection for acting in school plays, (Ian credits teacher Michael Walsh for his own love of the stage), he says: “I just loved pretending to be all these other characters.”

And with a healthy CV boasting films such as CenturyMoondanceThe Boys and Girl from County ClareThe Contract and Johnny English Reborn, alongside numerous TV and stage roles, Ian has forged a name for himself, regardless of his parents.

So where The Shark is Broken is concerned, despite its instant success and longevity, it will always be a project close to his heart.

The Shark Is Broken at Oxford Playhouse from Thurs Jan 23 – Sat Jan 25 BOOK HERE