The Shark Is Broken recreates a moment in moviemaking history

Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre is playing host to The Shark Is Broken, a new play from London’s West End that imagines actors Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider stuck on a boat off Martha’s Vineyard in 1974, during the filming of Jaws.

It’s a fun, wistful look back at a moment in moviemaking history. The three men discuss politics, the craft of acting – Scheider has this crazy idea that one day actors will be scanned by computers – and whether this killer-shark movie will be a hit or a forgotten bomb. Bets are made, booze consumed, fights break out. Offstage, Steven Spielberg is trying to get his mechanical shark to function properly. Days are turning into weeks.

The cast, reprising their roles from the London production, are excellent. Liam Murray Scott plays young Dreyfuss – he was 26 at the time, the others in their 40s and already Oscar nominees. Demetri Goritsas is a dead ringer for Scheider. And Ian Shaw, who also co-wrote the play, is Robert Shaw’s son, so the resemblance is natural and the performance deeply moving.

It’s a clever, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern type of conceit – take a well-known movie and pull back the curtain to show what went on behind the scenes. But it also got me thinking: Spielberg has directed some 35 features in his career so far. Might others be worthy of the Shark Is Broken treatment?

Here’s a list of plays Mirvish might consider mounting in the future. No need to thank me, though if you’re considering an offer of financial remuneration: You’re going to need a bigger quote.

Raiders of the Salt Pork: Shenanigans on the set of the first Indiana Jones movie, as tasty items from craft services keep disappearing, and everyone suspects the large contingent of Nazi extras. Act One ends on the line: “Steaks! Why did it have to be steaks?” Also, it’s a musical.

Reeses in Pieces: Two M&M executives meet in their offices on the opening night of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, crack open a bottle of whiskey and berate themselves for turning down one of cinema’s most famous product placement deals.

T. Wrecks: An unofficial sequel to The Shark Is Broken has the cast of Jurassic Park cooling their heels while technicians deal with a balky mechanical dinosaur, and a hurricane threatens to destroy their Hawaiian locations.

The Luggage Conveyor Is Broken: Art imitates life when Tom Hanks (played by his son, Colin Hanks) gets trapped in La Guardia after an overseas flight. A multitude of mishaps including passport and visa snafus delay him from flying on to California to make The Terminal.

The Lincoln Wrangler: Daniel Day-Lewis is a famously Method actor who disappears into his roles. Rumour has it he insisted on being called “Mr. President” while playing Lincoln. This one-act monologue imagines the “assistant to the President” who had to keep him stocked with period-appropriate snacks and also make sure his hat was blocked.

Cast Me If You Can: The casting department for the upcoming Spielberg movie The Fabelmans almost has a collective nervous breakdown over the stress of hiring actors to play a young Steven Spielberg and all the members of his family. Happy ending as the film wins the Peoples Choice Award in Toronto.

The Shark Is Broken runs until Nov. 6 at the Royal Alex. Tickets at Mirvish.com.

1. The Fabelmans wins the People's Choice award at TIFF

2. Reginald Hudlin discusses his Sidney Poitier documentary

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