The Shark is Broken: The story of the infamous feud on the set of Jaws

The most ferocious thing on the set of Jaws was not the great white shark; it was the animosity between two of the film’s stars, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss. open image in gallery Demetri Goritsas, Ian Shaw and Liam Murray Scott portraying Scheider, Shaw and Dreyfus in ‘The Shark is Broken’ The play emphasises that – as much as Spielberg’s stunning direction and John Williams’ deathless score – it is the bitterly fractious relationship between Quint and Hooper which makes the movie so memorable. At one point in the play, Shaw sneers at his co-star that, “the lights are on, but nobody’s home” and “you sound like a village idiot”. We had a few smiles about the fact that we were coming back into the West End after lockdown because people would inevitably identify with the three characters trapped in the same place “At the end of the play, Shaw says, ‘I love my wife, I love my kids, but just put me on a desert island with a golf course, the occasional visitor and a typewriter’.” One of the most memorable moments of the play is the electric shock you get when you first see Ian Shaw stride on stage looking the spitting image of Quint, from the ragged moustache and sideburns to the battered jacket and cap. “I hope not!” ‘The Shark is Broken’ is running at the Ambassadors Theatre in London until 13 February.