.‘The Shark is Broken’ at Left Edge in Santa Rosa

Theatrical adaptations of popular movies populate American theaters to an often-nauseating extent. 

Frequently transmogrified into musicals, producers mount them in the belief there’s a built-in audience guaranteed to show up and buy tickets en masse. 

While successful runs of such shows as Mrs. Doubtfire and Back to the Future might be proving their point, most shows of this type will never make it into a listing of great American theatrical triumphs.  

A tiny subset of that genre would be plays based on the making of a movie. Jonathan Reynolds’ Geniuses, about the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, and Ron Hutchinson’s Moonlight and Magnolias, about the writing of the script for Gone with the Wind, would be prime examples. 

Add to that tiny list The Shark is Broken by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon. Left Edge Theatre has a production of the comedy running at The California in Santa Rosa through April 11.  

Nixon and Shaw, the son of actor Robert Shaw, take the circumstances of Shaw’s most famous role, that of shark hunter Quint in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, and create a what-might-have-happened story between the three stars of the film that’s played mostly for laughs.  

Roy Scheider (Nathan Luft-Runner), Richard Dreyfuss (Dylan James Pierce) and Robert Shaw (Matt Cadigan) spend endless hours on a boat when their mechanical shark nemesis is inoperative. The hard-drinking Shaw and the brash, young Dreyfuss frequently go at it, leaving it to the level-headed Scheider to keep the peace.

Pierce gives the strongest performance of the three. He nails Dreyfuss’ jittery, often manic energy and neurotic personality. Cadigan does alright by Shaw, but there’s something lacking in his vocal delivery. It’s a hard act to follow/recreate. 

Luft-Runner certainly has a physical resemblance to Scheider, but he frequently tripped over his tongue. Perhaps he’ll inhabit the character more as he becomes more confident with his lines.

There are amusing bits in the script and plenty of “inside” references for movie buffs. The single set, small cast requirements of the show worked to first-time director Dana Hunt’s advantage. 

There’s nothing profound in The Shark is Broken, though it tries on the subject of fatherhood. It’s a lightweight entertainment for fans of the film and general cinephiles. If you’ve seen the film (and who hasn’t?), you’ll get it.  

Left Edge Theatre’s ‘The Shark is Broken’ runs through April 11 at The California Theatre, 528 7th St., Santa Rosa. Wed.-Fri., 7:30pm; Sat., 1pm. $22-$44. 707.664.7529. leftedgetheatre.com.