The three main characters in Steven Spielberg’s classic shocker Jaws – Martin Brody, Matt Hooper and a man known only as Quint – are iconic. The 1975 film, and that trio, entered the pop culture lexicon 50 years ago, and haven’t left since.

It’s been argued that Jaws is only partly about a killer shark. The uncomfortable bond that’s formed out of necessity between the pragmatic police chief, the rich-kid marine biologist and the grizzled veteran fisherman is the beating heart of Spielberg’s beloved blockbuster.

Ian Shaw wrote the play The Shark is Broken based on reports, both published and private, about the difficulties encountered by the cast and crew during the production of Jaws on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts in 1974. The title refers to Spielberg’s 25-foot mechanical shark, which tended to malfunction frequently, causing interminable delays.

Shaw’s father was Welsh stage and screen actor Robert Shaw, who starred as Quint. In the play, which was a major hit on Broadway and London’s West End, Robert Shaw and actors Roy Scheider (cast as Brody) and Richard Dreyfuss (Hooper) while away their downtime on the movie set, playing cards, drinking, arguing, philosophizing  – and in Dreyfuss’ case, whining – as they await the inevitable shout-out that the shark is once again operational.

Jobsite Theater’s production of The Shark is Broken opens March 11, directed by David M. Jenkins. Here on the Shimberg Playhouse stage are Shaw (Paul Potenza), Scheider (Christopher Marshall) and Dreyfuss (Cody Farkus), bored and bitchy, on the mock-up of Quint’s boat Orca.

These bay area actors are playing art imitating art imitating art (imitating life), and they’re aware that the bar has not only been set – everyone on the planet has likely seen Jaws – but that doing impersonations doesn’t do anybody, cast crew or audience, any favors.

For Marshall, that smells like a losing proposition. “I think it’s next to impossible to do that,” he says. “If you’re reaching for that, then there’s very little truth in what you’re doing. Because it’s a story. It’s not just three cartoon characters walking around a stage.

“So much of acting is responding to what’s being given you. Yes, you’re trying to achieve some level of a nod to that person, but if that’s all you’re playing, then you’re not playing the story as written. Because this is not Jaws. This is a new story.”

It’s also, in places, a very funny story. At one point, Scheider says “One thing’s for certain – there will never be a more amoral president than Tricky Dicky.” He also announces that if they ever make a sequel to Jaws, by God, he will not be it.

Shaw says he won’t, either. “Good luck to them bringing Quint back from the dead,” he grumbles.

(Scheider, in fact, did return for the regrettable Jaws 2.)

The well-documented on-set dischord between the seasoned and hard-drinking Shaw and the relative newcomer Dreyfuss imbues the storyline with tension, although a grudging respect emerges out of their forced downtime.

Farkas, the youngest member of this team, hasn’t done as much stagework as his two veteran co-stars. “They already knew each other and had worked together,” he says. “And that helped with the dynamic – ‘here are these two more experienced actors, and this Jewish neurotic who’s kind of new on the scene, and doesn’t really know anything.’”

Farkas prepared by watching Dreyfuss films and video interviews from the period, observing his fidgety mannerisms and hand gestures. “Unfortunately,” Farkas admits “I kind of do a lot of that stuff already.”

Potenza delivers Shaw-as-Quint’s “Indianapolis” monologue – before going in front of Spielberg’s cameras, he’s rehearsing it in front of the others – with chilling intensity. “When I think about Jaws, I think of Shaw’s Quint as ‘the big character,’” he says. “The boldness. Huge. To strip that away to be Shaw was harder for me.”

It’s a week before opening, and Potenza is still fine-tuning Shaw’s voice (although the chameleonic actor already has the Quint accent down cold).

“This isn’t soup yet, as far as who and what I’m going to sound like,” he laughs. “You can go all kinds of Scottish/Irish, so it can be difficult. But I’m having a good time doing it.”

Visit the Jobsite Theater website for all information, including showtimes and tickets.