The Broadway play “The Shark Is Broken,” a comedy-drama based on the making of the movie “Jaws,” is coming to the Vineyard this summer in celebration of the film’s 50th anniversary.
The play is currently touring the U.K. and Ireland, after showing from August to September 2023 on Broadway in New York’s John Golden Theatre.
It will be on the Island amid the height of events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the premiere of “Jaws” on June 20. The play will be presented in association with West Tisbury–based production company Circuit Arts.
“The Shark Is Broken” is based on real events, and co-written by Ian Shaw — son of “Jaws” star Robert Shaw, who played Captain Quint. It covers the film’s main cast bickering and bantering during the notoriously difficult shooting process. The trio of actors — Roy Scheider (Chief Brody), Richard Dreyfuss (Hooper), and Shaw — air their frustrations aboard Quint’s boat, the Orca, including gripes about the film’s malfunctioning animatronic shark.
The 90-minute play is coming to the Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center for two weeks starting July 5, thanks to Bill Hanney, owner of Edgartown Cinemas and a co-producer of the play. He told The Times this week that showing the play on-Island has been his goal since joining the production in 2019, before its first premiere.
“Why I got involved in the Broadway show was only to have the rights to do it … on-Island, where it all began,” he said.
Hanney, who has been a part-time Island resident since he started building the Edgartown theater 30 years ago, says his childhood memories of seeing “Jaws” in theaters are still fresh — particularly his first glimpses of the shark, and the remains of Ben Gardner, a local fisherman who goes after the creature. “At least twice, I jumped out of my movie theater chair. The two scenes I remember vividly are the shark in front of Roy Scheider, and the guy with the eyeballs got me.”
Hanney said the play is a look into behind-the-scenes dynamics between the three stars, in part thanks to Shaw’s access to his father’s diary from the time.
Throughout the play, the character of Robert Shaw struggles with the script of Quint’s famous speech about his survival of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis — the real-life tragedy in which hundreds of Navy sailors died, with somewhere from a few dozen to over a hundred killed by shark attacks.
Viewers will also notice the play’s many references to the Vineyard.
“[Ian] was there when he was a kid,” said Hanney. “Throughout the years, he would have a lot of information.”
Though the younger Shaw played his father in the Broadway production, he will not play that role on-Island, as he is touring the play in the U.K. But Hanney hopes that Shaw will be able to come for the Island’s 50th anniversary festivities.
The play will also contribute a float to the Edgartown Fourth of July parade, Hanney said — onlookers can expect to see a big shark pulled along behind a truck.
Before showing on-Island, the play will be performed at Hanney’s North Shore Music Theater in Beverly.
“The Shark is Broken” will open on July 5 at the Performing Arts Center in Oak Bluffs and show for two weeks. Ticket prices are still being worked out, according to Hanney.
He added that the play may run for longer this summer, based on sales, and that there is a chance it might return for a limited run every summer.
