JAWING ABOUT JAWS: Big Dawg premiers ‘The Shark is Broken’

It was in the summer of ‘75, dear reader, when audiences rounded the block at theaters not only to escape the heat, but to find out why people were telling them to stay out of the water. 

The reason was the film “JAWS,” a hotly anticipated adaption of the novel of the same name, directed by a young upstart filmmaker with few credits to his name. Maybe you’ve heard of him— Steven Spielberg? John Williams’ ominous score builds up perfectly. “Smile, you son of a bitch” is now a triumphant and classic quote. The move was a work of art. 

A New England resort town is besieged by a great white shark who feasts on beachgoers. In response, amidst July 4^th celebrations, the local police chief, a marine biologist, and a professional shark hunter band together to hunt down this ferocious fish.  

“JAWS” would become the highest-grossing film of its time upon release, making Spielberg a cinematic king and solidifying its cast as stars. The film would go on to score loads of Oscar nominations (including Best Picture), become labeled as the 48^th greatest film ever made by the American Film Institute, and kick off the Sharksploitation genre—not a bad legacy for a film with a production wrought with strife at nearly every turn. 

The production, scheduled for 55 days, dragged into 159 days on set. The $4-million-dollar budget ballooned up to $9 million by the time shooting finally wrapped. The cast chomped at each other worse than any aquatic predator ever could. And this isn’t even mentioning the prima donna of the picture: a full-size pneumatically powered prop shark, nicknamed Bruce by the production crew, continuously malfunctioned. The production seemed all but cursed. 

Big Dawg Theatre Company’s production “The Shark is Broken” is a fictionalized account of the chaotic behind-the-scenes production of “JAWS. Our three leads, Robert Shaw (Woody Stefl), Richard Dreyfuss (Jamie Lane), and Roy Scheider (Bradley Cox) are forced to endure chronic boredom, conflicting personalities, and their malfunctioning mechanical co-star. 

(L-R) Jame Lane as Richard Dreyfuss, Bradley Cox as Roy Scheider, and Woody Stefl as Robert Shaw

This production marks the Wilmington premier of “The Shark is Broken,” opening Thursday, July 9 at the Ruth and Bucky Stein Theater at Thalian Hall. Days away from entering hell week, the production’s director Kat Vernon and star Woody Stefl sat down to jaw with me about set life, actor life, and most importantly, “JAWS.”   

A rather new play itself, “The Shark is Broken” first hit the stage in 2019, penned by actor Robert Shaw’s own son, Ian Shaw. Ian also played his father in the original production (which is something I’d imagine Sigmund Freud would have a field day with). Stefl now champions the show, ushering it into Wilmington. 

Woody Stefl wears JAWS-themed socks and holds a water bottle stickered with Robert Shaw’s famed character, Quint. 

“My Dad would take me to see the scariest shit when I was an 8-year-old,” Woody Stefl reminisces with a grin. “He took me to see ‘JAWS’ on the big screen as a kid, and I’ve been rewatching it ever since. I could just rewatch it over and over again! When this play came out, I was drawn to it. I bought the script immediately, even though I knew the rights weren’t available. Once I read it, I presented it to Steve [Vernon, Artistic Director of Big Dawg], and Big Dawg took over from there.” 

Stefl lets us in on one caveat: “I’ll be upfront and put this out there, I was pre-cast as Robert Shaw.”

The director waves that detail away as mere semantics, though. Kat Vernon says, “I would have cast you anyway. I’ve never directed a show where someone was cast upfront. I don’t want to make it all about that, but it was kinda great to have Shaw taken care of, which is the hardest role to cast. Now we could just read for chemistry between Woody and the other two actors.”

While the film holds a sentimental spot for Stefl, Vernon admits to not having a deep childhood connection to the film. 

“I was a chicken when it came to horror movies as a child,” she admits. “For me, it strikes a good balance to have someone who doesn’t have a deep attachment to the film. This is the type of play I love: it’s not gimmicks, just real conversations, and real relationships. That’s what I find really interesting as a theater goer, as a director, and as an actor.” 

When asked if seeing the film would help in the audience’s enjoyment of the play, Vernon stresses the universal nature of the show. “Everyone has experiences with waiting, everyone has experiences with personality clashes, with self-doubt, with pondering the meanings of the universe. This play explores all of that through these distinct individual’s interactions.” She begins to count off on one hand, “We have a bully, we have a neurotic, we have a Zen, and the balance between the three is fun and fascinating to watch. People are going to see this play who haven’t seen ‘JAWS,’ and it has to work for everybody.”

Stefl adds, “And that is why we hired Kat to be our director. She just looks at it from such a brilliant angle.”

Stefl understands the whole “lights-camera-wait” mentality of a film set. He shares, “I worked on a Toyota commercial years ago. I was on set for three days; the whole commercial was 30 seconds long.”

One element that Vernon stresses is the interpretation versus impersonation factor that comes from depicting real-world people and situations. She goes on to recount what she was looking for during the audition process.

“I was upfront,” she says, “I told everyone who auditioned I want the vibe, an energy, of these characters. Do NOT give me an impersonation; that is boring, in my opinion. The cast are recognizably the people they are playing without having to get the smallest detail exactly right. The guys are doing a great job of embodying that.”

“It’s an interesting perspective to play an actual person, an iconic life,” Stefl chimes in, “And I know the other actors feel the same way; we are playing these larger-than-life people.” 

Stefl, who rocks a pretty dead-on look for Quint, with a mustache/sideburns combo and a dirty tan hat atop his head, points at his chest to emphasize. “My character is Robert Shaw, and I’ve taken that not as an impersonation…I’m trying to bring my own life experiences to that, but I have listened to a lot of interviews with Shaw and have tried to learn as much about him as I can.” 

He then nods his head, almost in acceptance, “I will say the only ‘impersonating’ I’m doing is when Robert Shaw plays Capt. Quint. At that point, it becomes this odd dual role.”

Vernon can’t help but praise the hard work her cast has put in during the rehearsal process. “I will say, it has been fun to watch these actors work their roles and work their relationship both on stage and off.”

This sentiment is shared by Stefl and the rest of his three-man-band towards their fearless leader. “Kat has done a wonderful job of breaking this show down,” he says. “When to do a full run, when to do scene work, when to focus on motivation and background. So, a week or so out we’re in a really good spot.” 

Stefl throws his arms up in amazement, exclaiming, “I don’t think I’ve been a part of a show that is at the point this show is during rehearsals before, and it’s an amazing feeling.”

It’s clear that Vernon and her team are in good spirits for their upcoming opening night. With that, I let the crew of the Orca begin their rehearsal. As I set off to hammer out this article, chumming the preverbal waters for an audience, if you will, I got into my car to drive away, and I could have sworn I heard the sea shanty “Show Me the Way to Go Home” drifting on the humid night air. (Or maybe that was me just singing to myself? What can I say, “JAWS” is one of my favorite movies.)

Details

The Shark is Broken

Thalian Hall July 9-19 (Ruth and Bucky Stein Theatre) Thurs-Sat 7:30pm, Sun 3:00pm

thalianhall.org