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The Shark is Broken, review: just when you thought it was safe to go back in the theatre

Choppy waters: Ian Shaw as Robert Shaw, Demetri Gotirsas as Roy Schneider, Liam Murray Scott as Richard Dreyfuss - Alastair Muir
Choppy waters: Ian Shaw as Robert Shaw, Demetri Gotirsas as Roy Schneider, Liam Murray Scott as Richard Dreyfuss - Alastair Muir

Two years ago, Ian Shaw’s mesmeric three-hander detailing the behind-the-scenes nightmare involved in the making of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws made waves at the Edinburgh Fringe. Startlingly, it starred its author as his own famous actor father, Robert, who played the hard-bitten shark fisherman Quint in the 1975 blockbuster.

The only fear I had was that the play – co-scripted with Joseph Nixon - might look stranded on a London stage, even a small one. It premiered in a dry and dusty lecture hall, which didn't exactly point the way forward to a red-carpet event.

In the interim, though, the production, directed by Guy Masterson, has brought in wizard video specialist Nina Dunn to work alongside set designer Duncan Henderson. The result is the magical transformation of the replica ship’s cabin where Robert Shaw is holed up with co-stars Richard Dreyfuss (who played Hooper) and Roy Scheider (police chief Brody), as dummy shark malfunctions protract the shoot off Martha’s Vineyard. Now, the claustrophobic core scenario is surrounded by a spellbinding, constantly heaving projected seascape that curves to a far horizon, with the sky an additional mutable delight, complete with passing gulls and even ships.

It’s a theatrical-cinematic stroke of genius. Just as the sea, and the threat within in, is a lurking dramatis persona in the 1975 film, so the background against which the three men bicker, bond and – in Shaw’s case - booze like there’s no tomorrow, affords a silent running commentary on the nature of their existence.

The ups and downs of these thrown-together types, Shaw the growling and jaded old-timer, Dreyfuss the eager and (by this account) irritating young pup, with Scheider the level-headed, peace-making middle-man, might sound like dramatic small-fry. The epic nature of the spectacle takes that reaction on board, magnifying the sense of man’s insignificance in the face of nature that we glean has driven Shaw, the play’s philosophical anchor, to drown his sorrows.

It feels hugely poignant that Shaw fils should be stepping centre-stage, getting his turn in the spotlight and sharing it with the memory of his father – whom he uncannily resembles – more than 40 years after the latter’s death.

That said, there’s a lot of comic surface froth to enjoy too as Shaw – likeable, self-important, astute about the blockbuster mentality of Hollywood that’s emerging before his eyes – tears strips off Liam Murray Scott’s endearingly all-at-sea Dreyfuss. Joining the cast, Demetri Goritsas looks the spit of Scheider, and suggests a calming presence amid the serrated jaw-jaw. I loved it before. I love it even more now.

To book tickets, please visit Telegraph Tickets