3 – 8 March
West End and Broadway smash hit play THE SHARK IS BROKEN tours to Bath in 50th anniversary year of the iconic film Jaws.
The brilliantly funny, Olivier Award-nominated play celebrates movie history as it peeks at the choppy waters behind Hollywood’s first blockbuster, imagining what happened on board ‘The Orca’ when the cameras stopped rolling during the filming of Steven Spielberg’s epic movie.
Co-written by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon and inspired by Robert Shaw’s experience playing ‘Quint’ in Jaws, the cast are Ian Shaw, who stars as his father Robert Shaw, alongside Dan Fredenburgh as Roy Scheider and Ashley Margolis as Richard Dreyfuss.
FADE IN: The open ocean, 1974. Filming is delayed… again. The lead actors – theatre veteran Robert Shaw and young Hollywood hotshots Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider – are crammed into a too-small boat, entirely at the mercy of foul weather and a faulty mechanical co-star. Alcohol flows, egos collide, and tempers flare on a chaotic voyage that just might lead to cinematic magic… if it doesn’t sink them all.
Ian Shaw’s many stage credits include War Horse and Common at the National Theatre. Previously at the Theatre Royal Bath, he has starred in Peace In Our Time in 1995, Lady Windermere’s Fan in 2000, Three Sisters in 2002 and Much Ado About Nothing for Bremer Shakespeare Company, a production which appeared in the 2004 Bath Shakespeare Festival. Ian’s film credits include Century, Moondance, The Boys & Girl from County Clare, The Contract and Johnny English Reborn; and on television he has appeared in Wuthering Heights, The Queen, Medics, Ghost Hour, Watership Down, Silent Witness, Cambridge Spies and the Emmy award-winning Hiroshima.
Dan Fredenburgh’s theatre credits include playing the title role in the RSC’s production of The Prince of Homburg; A Few Good Men with Rob Lowe; An Inspector Calls; the Globe Theatre’s production of The Merchant of Venice with Jonathan Pryce, which transferred to Broadway, and Theatre d’ Complicité’s award-winning production of Mnemonic. He has performed at the Theatre Royal Bath previously in The Portrait Of A Lady in 2008 and Noises Off in 2023. His film credits include The Bourne Ultimatum, Love Actually and political drama Adults In The Room, and his television credits include Fifteen Love for Amazon and BBC adaptations of Jane Austen’s Emma and A Christmas Carol.
Ashley Margolis’ theatre credits include The Band’s Visit at Donmar Warehouse, which was nominated for Best New Musical at the Olivier Awards; the London revival production of Bad Jews in the West End, and the original UK tour of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. His television credits include Silent Witness, Brassic, Father Brown, Some Girls and the BAFTA-winning Anne Frank: A Life In Hiding.
Martha Geelan directs the tour of The Shark Is Broken, based on original direction by Guy Masterson with set and costume design by Duncan Henderson, lighting design by Jon Clark, sound design by Adam Cork, video design by Nina Dunn. Assistant director is Molly Stacey and associate sound designer is James Melling. The Shark Is Broken is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Scott Landis, GFour Productions and Kenny Wax.
The Shark Is Broken appears at the Theatre Royal Bath from Monday 3rd to Saturday 8th March. To book tickets contact the Theatre Royal Box Office on 01225 448844 or visit
Photography credit: Manuel Harlan
This listing appears on our front page until 11:55pm on Saturday March 8th, 2025
