{"id":108769,"date":"2025-03-29T21:50:57","date_gmt":"2025-03-30T04:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=108769"},"modified":"2025-03-30T07:48:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-30T14:48:51","slug":"behind-the-scenes-of-jaws-three-actors-bare-their-teeth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/behind-the-scenes-of-jaws-three-actors-bare-their-teeth\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the scenes of \u2018Jaws,\u2019 three actors bare their teeth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Actor Richard Dreyfuss (Dylan James Pereira, front) gestures while the other main performers in the film <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em>Jaws<\/strong>, Roy Scheider (Nathan Luft-Runner, left) and Robert Shaw (Matt Cadigan), look on in a dramedy at the Left Edge Theatre, <\/strong><\/em>The Shark Is Broken<\/strong>. (Photo by Dana Hunt)<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n
<\/h5>\n

By WOODY WEINGARTEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Shark Is Broken<\/em> may be billed as a comedy but might better be viewed as a drama peppered with laughs.<\/p>\n

The 95-minute play details the real-life, repugnant interactions of actors Richard Dreyfuss (Dylan James Pereira), Robert Shaw (Matt Cadigan), and Roy Scheider (Nathan Luft-Runner) off and on the set of Steven Spielberg\u2019s 1975 cinematic blockbuster, Jaws.<\/p>\n

Tensions spring from shooting delays caused by pre-CGI and AI mechanical devices \u2014 intended to power the threatening shark\u00a0\u2014 conking out. Add to that a feud between a young Dreyfuss and an aging Shaw (known as much for his Shakespearean roles and his writing as for his Hollywood work) that sets a troublesome tone throughout.<\/p>\n

Scheider, a more stoic, professorial type, can\u2019t elude Shaw\u2019s negativity either. When he bemoans the two-month ocean shoot in Martha\u2019s Vineyard as \u201ca long time to be stuck together,\u201d Shaw one-ups him: \u201cIt\u2019s an eternity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many scenes in the Dana Hunt-directed play replicate precisely what happened. At least that\u2019s what Ian Shaw, the actor\u2019s son, would have us believe. It was he who co-wrote the play with Joseph Nixon (never shrinking from repeatedly depicting his dad as a stumbling drunk).<\/p>\n

The Shaw character, who alludes to his own father killing himself when the actor was 12, is fully cognizant of his shortcomings and how they affect others. He refers to priding himself for being able to act at all after \u201ca tidal wave of booze\u201d and notes that he can find himself \u201cwith a drink in my hand as a reward for not drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trying to cozy up to the British actor, and hopefully eliminating an avalanche of putdowns, Dreyfuss brings his elder joy by looking for and finding two hidden bottles of booze. But he also dumps the contents of yet another bottle, an action that transforms a war of words into more physical combat.<\/p>\n

Much of the play\u2019s humor is pitch black, with sarcasm being the main coin of the theatrical realm. Early on, the panic attack-prone Dreyfuss fears for his career because the film they\u2019re in could end up being like Planet of the Apes\u201cwithout the monkeys.\u201d<\/p>\n

In brazen contrast while alone in the show\u2019s funniest moments later, he presents a mocking imitation of Shaw.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Starring in <\/strong><\/em>The Shark Is Broken<\/strong> are (from left) Dylan James Pereira, Nathan Luft-Runner, and Matt Cadigan. (Photo by Dana Hunt)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

Together, the three characters touch on a gamut of subjects: father-son relationships, philosophical and scientific journeys of the mind and mouth, and pointed references to Nixon (\u201ctricky Dickie\u201d), the Silent Majority, and Nobel Prize-winning dramatist Harold Pinter,<\/p>\n

To pass the time, they gamble on cards and a British coin-flip game \u2014 and almost constantly refer to their previous hits, as well as films that crashed and burned, and other actors.<\/p>\n

They also debate their billing and who is the film\u2019s star, their egos never letting them think for an instant that it\u2019s the animatronic shark.<\/p>\n

Just before their final scene, in both reel and real life, Shaw indicate he doesn\u2019t think much of Jaws and goes on to trash Spielberg\u2019s next unnamed project that will become E.T. \u2014 the Extra-Terrestrial with one pejorative word, aliens, and then predicts that the film industry in the future will be limited to churning out \u201csequels and rewrites and sequels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Snarkily, he also says, \u201cDo you really think anybody is going to be talking about this in 50 years?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Shark Is Broken<\/em> will play at the Left Edge Theatre of the California Theatre, 528 7th St., Santa Rosa, through April 11. Tickets: $22 to $33. Info: 707-664-play or https:\/\/leftedgetheatre.com.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sherwood \u201cWoody\u201d Weingarten, a longtime member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and the author of four books, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, <\/em>https:\/\/woodyweingarten.com\u00a0and <\/em>https:\/\/vitalitypress.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Actor Richard Dreyfuss (Dylan James Pereira, front) gestures while the other main performers in the film Jaws, Roy Scheider (Nathan Luft-Runner, left) and Robert Shaw (Matt Cadigan), look on in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":2.6,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-108769","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"