TAMPA — Jobsite Theater will present “The Shark Is Broken,” running March 12-April 5, in Shimberg Playhouse at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N. W.C. MacInnes Place, Tampa.
Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Matinees are Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $49.50 and increase by date based on demand. Visit strazcenter.org.
Fade in: The open ocean, 1974. Filming is delayed … again. The lead actors — theatre and film vet Robert Shaw and up-and-coming Hollywood hotshots Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider — are crammed into a too-small boat, entirely at the mercy of foul weather and a faulty mechanical co-star. Alcohol flows, egos collide, and tempers flare on a chaotic voyage that just might lead to cinematic magic … if it doesn’t sink them all.
“The Shark Is Broken” celebrates movie history and peeks at the choppy waters behind Hollywood’s first blockbuster.
The play is co-written by Joseph Nixon and Ian Shaw — son of “Jaws” actor Robert Shaw (Quint). Jobsite’s production stars local legend Paul J. Potenza as Robert Shaw, Christopher James Marshall as Roy Scheider, and Cody Farkas as Richard Dreyfuss under the direction of David Jenkins, Jobsite producing artistic director.
“Many years ago, I read about the extraordinary difficulties they had making ‘Jaws,’ and it occurred to me that there was an interesting story behind the scenes of one of cinema’s most legendary movies,” wrote Ian Shaw in a letter promoting a touring version of the play. “The play is dedicated to the wonderful David Mounfield and Joseph’s father Michael Nixon, both of whom sadly died in 2020. It is a farewell to them, and of course, my amazing father. Thank you to them for all the love and laughter they gave us.”
The crew of the Jobsite production includes Joy Cadman, lighting designer; Jeremy Douglass, sound designer; Chris Giuffré, scenic designer; Eric Leas, scenic specialist; and Katrina Stevenson, costume designer. Giuffré also serves as this show’s technical director, while Douglass is stage manager.
“The Shark Is Broken” is 95 minutes with no intermission.