ONE of the less feeble excuses I have made to friends and family who have suggested that I write my reminiscences of a war and post-war childhood, is that to do so I would show the faults of a father who fought hard all his life to take care of my mother and I, and give me opportunities that were denied to him.
Ian Shaw had no such reservations when he joined Joseph Nixon in writing this play about the love-hate relationship between his internationally renowned stage and screen actor father, Robert, Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss, during the filming in 1975 of Steven Spielberg’s blockbusting film Jaws.
It was 2017, when reading his father’s drinking diary of the Jaws period, that Ian, looking in his dressing room mirror. realised that he was now 48, the same age as his father when he made Jaws. Also, that this was not only the time to write a play about a story had been fascinated him since the age of four, when he visited his father on the set at Martha’s Vineyard, but also to play the role himself.
The project started as a one act play at the Edinburgh festival, but quickly grew to 90 minutes with productions in London’s West End and on Broadway. The story of the boredom and frustration the three star actors felt, as they spent days together in the confines of the fishing smack used to try and stop Jaws wreaking more havoc, because Bruce – as the Mechanical shark was nicknamed by the crew – had again broken down, is told with a fine mix of drama and a great deal of ironic humour.
With personal reminiscences, diaries, articles and TV interviews at his disposal, Ian Shaw is in a unique position to paint a picture of his hard-drinking, strong-willed father, and he pulls no punches as writer and actor as Robert’s faults, hopes and fears are laid bare. And having done their research, Ian and co-author Joseph Nixon have similarly created real pictures of Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss, not whitewashed publicity photographs.
Ashley Margolis’s Dreyfuss is full of insecurity, and the easiest of targets for Shaw’s barbed digs at his style of acting and theatrical theories. When things look like getting out of hand – teasing fun threatening to turn to nasty reality – it is Dan Fredenburgh, who apart from being a little tall, looks frighteningly like Roy Scheider, who acts as peacemaker.
About the only thing the three men agree on is that they have little faith in this adaptation of Peter Benchley’s novel being a success (it turned out to be one of the biggest box office grossers in the history of film making), and the fear that sequels and re-makes would take over movie making (Scheider declared that he would never appear in a sequel to Jaws, in fact he appeared in two of them). Also that even more ridiculous subjects than Jaws would find their way onto the screen (director Steven Spielberg was to break more box office records with ET and Jurassic Park).
Among some well-played moments of deep self-examination, there are some lovely light hearted sequences like Robert Shaw’s attempt to introduce Scheider and Dreyfuss to the fine old English pub game of shove ha’penny.
Set and costume designer Duncan Henderson has cleverly combined the look of the outdoor, with sea flowing free in the background and the claustrophobic atmosphere faced by the three players in the cramped cabin of that fishing smack. The combined efforts of those on and off stage make this a fascinating view of film making behind it glossy facade.
If you miss the production at Bath’s Theatre Royal this week, you can catch up with it at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth from 31st March to 5th April, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham from 22nd to 26th April and Poole Lighthouse from 29th April to 3rd May.
GRP