The Shark Is Broken at Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET)

The Shark Is Broken

Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET)
31 W Patrick St Frederick

It's 1974 and the hit movie JAWS is being filmed. Well, it would be, if the prop shark wasn't a mechanical mess. In this laugh-out-loud comedy, testy, feuding costars Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, and Roy Scheider take center stage as booze flows, egos clash, and tempers flare. The actors pray for an end to the shoot, not knowing it will change their lives forever.

Thru - Oct 5, 2025

Thursdays: 7:30pm

Fridays: 7:30pm

Saturdays: 7:30pm

Sundays: 3:00pm

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 301-694-4744

www.marylandensemble.org

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The Shark Is Broken Reviews

Average Rating based on 3 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

DC Theater Arts - Not Recommended

"...But the dramatic stakes are low (we know that Jaws became a blockbuster), and the ironic, meta-humor is lazy, such as when Shaw, predicting Spielberg's future directorial moves, asks, "What next, dinosaurs?" Or when he declares that no future president could be more immoral than Richard "Tricky Dick" Nixon."

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- Geoffrey Melada

MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended

"...Lights, camera, action? What about the moments in between takes? Maryland Ensemble Theatre's (MET) production of "The Shark Is Broken" offers exactly that-an intimate, witty, and deeply human glimpse behind one of cinema's most famous movie masterpieces. Under the direction of Gene Fouche, this play is as cunning as it is admirable, peeling back the curtain on the making of "Jaws" and revealing how meaning often emerges in the pauses."

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- Katie Barnett

Theatre Bloom - Highly Recommended

"...Who knew that a line like that would still be titillating audiences literally 50 years later? I mean, "The human race won't exist someday and here we are worrying about some stupid movie." (Ian Shaw & Joseph Nixon; The Shark Is Broken.) As the Spielberg iconic film enters its actual 50th year of cinematic relevance, the Maryland Ensemble Theatre kicks off their 2025/2026 Main-Stage season with this wild new production The Shark Is Broken, written by Ian Shaw & Joseph Nixon) based around the real-life experience of Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw aboard the boat-set while filming Jaws."

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- Amanda N. Gunther

The Shark Is Broken at Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET)