Actor Adam Poole and director Pesha Rudnick make their Ensemble Theatre Company debuts in “The Shark Is Broken,” a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the classic film “Jaws.” “I like the friction, the tension and the games they played with each other while being trapped on this boat for eight weeks,” Rudnick says.
Actor Adam Poole and director Pesha Rudnick make their Ensemble Theatre Company debuts in “The Shark Is Broken,” a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the classic film “Jaws.” “I like the friction, the tension and the games they played with each other while being trapped on this boat for eight weeks,” Rudnick says. Credit: Brian McDonald photo

“We’re gonna need a bigger theater!” said Scott Devine, executive artistic director of Santa Barbara’s Ensemble Theatre Company, appropriating the famous line from “Jaws.” He couldn’t contain his enthusiasm for the company’s West Coast premiere of the play “The Shark Is Broken,” which opens on Saturday and runs through Sunday, Feb. 22.

Ticket information is available at etcsb.org.

The original quote refers to “a bigger boat,” and was uttered in the film by Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) after his first harrowing encounter with a great white shark terrorizing the fictional hamlet of Amity Island.

However, during filming, the mechanical shark did not always cooperate, leaving the three movie stars adrift, trapped for weeks on the boat “Orca” while standing by to film critically important scenes.

Written by Ian Shaw, “The Shark Is Broken” is based on journal entries made by his father, Robert Shaw, during the filming of the 1975 blockbuster movie. The elder Shaw portrayed obsessed shark hunter Quint, who joins sheriff Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss, who played a cocky young shark scientist, in pursuit of the gargantuan predatory fish. 

“It’s Hollywood chaos at its finest,” Devine said. “The witty play captures the reality of three legendary actors’ egos clashing and the messy, hilarious reality behind movie magic. Those days that did not make it to the screen embody a story just as compelling as the film itself.”

The timing is apt: Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, and the play’s run coincides with this year’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

In Ensemble Theatre Company’s production of “The Shark Is Broken,” Adam Poole, center, is Roy Scheider, one of three movie stars trapped for weeks on the boat “Orca” while filming “Jaws." Will Block, left, is Richard Dreyfuss and Gildart Jackson portrays Robert Shaw.
In Ensemble Theatre Company’s production of “The Shark Is Broken,” Adam Poole, center, is Roy Scheider, one of three movie stars trapped for weeks on the boat “Orca” while filming “Jaws.” Will Block, left, is Richard Dreyfuss, and Gildart Jackson portrays Robert Shaw. Credit: Jason Niedle / TETHOS photo

“It’s a love letter to cinema, specifically to one of the most iconic movies ever made,” Devine said.

Shaw is portrayed in this production by Gildart Jackson, seen last season in Ensemble’s “Parents in Chains.” Dreyfuss is Will Block, also returning after playing the title role in “Hamlet.”

Adam Poole makes his company debut as Scheider, a role he previously performed at the North Carolina Stage Company in Asheville, his hometown.

Adam Poole plays real-life actor Roy Scheider, one of three legendary movie stars whose egos clash during the filming of “Jaws” in Ensemble Theatre Company’s production of “The Shark is Broken.”
Adam Poole plays real-life actor Roy Scheider, one of three legendary movie stars whose egos clash during the filming of “Jaws” in Ensemble Theatre Company’s production of “The Shark is Broken.” Credit: Zach Mendez photo

Poole said the shark being broken for so much of the time proved to be an unanticipated bonus. 

“That meant that it couldn’t be shown as much as the 26-year-old director Spielberg originally planned,” he said. “But not seeing the shark made the film that much better.”

Even before this play, Poole said he had a special relationship with “Jaws.”

“It started with my college roommate, who was a huge fan and collector of ‘Jaws’ memorabilia,” he said. “Last summer, I saw it twice for the 50th anniversary, including once in an IMAX theater. I have the commemorative popcorn buckets.” 

Director Pesha Rudnick also makes her company debut with “The Shark Is Broken.” 

“The first time I read the script, I was grabbed by the relationship between these three men,” she said. “I liked the friction, the tension and the games they played with each other while being trapped on this boat for eight weeks.”

Both Poole and Rudnick agreed that the boat had a huge impact on the three “Jaws” actors. 

“The play takes place entirely on the ‘Orca,’” she said. “We built a 48-foot scale replica, which is shown in a cross-section. It is almost like the fourth character, as we feel its presence throughout the entire production.”

“The boat was like a floating green room,” Poole said, “but one with weather, tides and swells, plus bouts of seasickness and a lot of alcohol being consumed, especially by Shaw.” 

At that time, the three movie stars were in a different phase of their careers.

English actor Shaw was known for his intensity, both on and off the screen. Nominated for both Tony and Academy awards, he often played villains, notably an Irish mobster scammed in “The Sting” (1973).

“But Shaw is getting older and wasn’t sure ‘Jaws’ would even be a success,” Poole said. “He was doubting himself, wondering, ‘Am I replaceable?’”

Dreyfuss is at the beginning of his career, fresh off winning a Golden Globe for “American Graffiti” (1973). The actor and his “Jaws” character are confident, brash and opinionated.

Gildart Jackson, left, is Robert Shaw, Adam Poole is Roy Scheider and Will Block is Richard Dreyfuss in Ensemble Theatre Company’s production of “The Shark Is Broken.” The three live actors portray the three famous movie stars trapped on a boat while standing by to film critically important scenes of “Jaws.”
Gildart Jackson, left, is Robert Shaw, Adam Poole is Roy Scheider and Will Block is Richard Dreyfuss in Ensemble Theatre Company’s production of “The Shark Is Broken.” The three live actors portray the three famous movie stars trapped on a boat while standing by to film critically important scenes of “Jaws.” Credit: Zach Mendez photo

“Scheider is the most even-keeled of the three, pun intended,” Poole said.

The former boxer attained fame for the film “Klute” and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for “The French Connection.” (Later, in 1979, he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for “All That Jazz.”)

“For my character, this play is a lot about the power of the ocean. He’s afraid of water when it starts,” he said. “He’s trying to keep the drama off-screen to a minimum, but even Scheider has his breaking point.”

The cast rehearsed for a day on a similarly sized fishing boat off the coast of Santa Barbara.

“On the boat, it became apparent that we have a 360-degree ocean view around us at all times,” Poole said. “Even though the audience is on one side, the ocean setting affects us as actors. Sometimes our backs are to the audience.”

Rudnick is the founding artistic director of Local Theater Company in Boulder, Colorado, where she spent 14 years presenting new American plays. A graduate of New York University’s educational theater and directing program, she also developed and oversaw theater curriculum and playwriting residencies for junior high school students.

She relocated to the Central Coast in 2021 to join the UCSB Department of Theater and Dance, where she teaches advanced directing. That department has partnered with Ensemble for a new professional development program for students. 

“We’re trying to help bridge between educational theater and professional theater, having it go both ways,” Rudnick said.

Students receive free tickets to Ensemble productions, attend rehearsals and may audition for roles, among other benefits. Three students appeared in last year’s “The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged,” and a student served as assistant director and dramaturge (literary adviser and researcher) for “The Shark Is Broken.” 

Spoiler alert: The “Jaws” mechanical shark eventually performed for key scenes, but Spielberg had to rely on clever editing and music to ratchet up the suspense — to great success. It was the first film to earn more than $100 million worldwide and is considered the first “summer blockbuster.”