Presenting Sponsor

Season Sponsors

Playhouse Partners

Playhouse Friends
Adams & Knight
The Hartman Foundation
Lux Bond & Green
Plymouth Realty
Richard & Lea Rubenstein

Additional Support Provided By

Playhouse Theatre Group, Inc.

Presents

THE SHARK IS BROKEN

written by
Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon

Director
Joe Discher

SETTING
On board the Orca, on the open ocean east of Martha’s Vineyard, between East Chop and Oak Bluffs.

Run time
1 hour and 45 minutes with no intermission

Original West End Production Produced by: Sonia Friedman Productions, Scott Landis, 
GFour Productions, Larry Magid, Tulchin Bartner Productions, in association with Jane Bergère

Original Broadway Production Produced by: Sonia Friedman Productions, Scott Landis, 
GFour Productions, Tulchin Bartner Productions, Eilene Davidson Productions, LD Entertainment, 
No Guarantees, Jane Bergère, Richard Batchelder, Larry Magid, Theatre Tours International Ltd, Shooting the Breeze, Cue to Cue Productions/James Deroy, Marc Goldman/Richard & Claudia Beeny, Jill Lenhart/Yara Shoemaker Couture, Moellenberg/Hornos, Pinnacle Productions/
Bill Hanney, Jesse Singer/Matthew Levy

“The Shark Is Broken”is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, 
servicing the Dramatists Play Service imprint. (www.dramatists.com)

The Director is a Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, 
a national theatrical labor union.

The Costume Designer is a member of United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, IATSE. The union represents Scenic, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Projection Designers in Live Performance.

RICHARD DREYFUSS
Jake Regensburg

ROY SCHEIDER
Nicolas Greco*

ROBERT SHAW
John D. Alexander*

* The Actor appears courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors, and Stage Managers in the United States

“Still, it will be worth it in the end, I suppose.”

--from The Shark Is Broken

* * *

My eight-year-old daughter Anneke gave me a going away present before I left home to direct The Shark Is Broken here at Playhouse on Park. It is a page from a very detailed coloring book that has pictures accompanied by inspirational messages on the opposite pages. She had meticulously and beautifully colored in the picture of a unicorn (her favorite mythical creature) and addressed it to me. The message on the flip side is a quote from Harriet Beecher Stowe: “Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” I slipped this into the cover of the binder that holds my director’s script and kept it with me during rehearsal.

I had been directing plays for twenty-five years when this passion took a back seat in my life; first to the pandemic and then to taking care of my two children as a stay-at-home dad. So, to receive that present from my daughter as I prepared to direct my first stage production in five years felt symbolic. I wouldn’t trade the time at home with my kids for anything, but being back in the rehearsal room has been wonderful. Collaborating with actors and designers is a delight. Bringing a story to life on stage for an audience is a gift; especially a rich story like this one which takes us behind the scenes of the first Hollywood blockbuster. As playwright Ian Shaw wrote, “who doesn’t like a peak into a private world?”

On the surface, The Shark is Broken is about the making of Jaws and a bit of a tribute to Ian Shaw’s father (in the playwright’s own words). As the cast and I explored this play over three and a half weeks we found that, like the ocean, this play is one thing on the surface, but an entirely different world beneath. It is much more than amusing nods to Jaws and a glimpse into the difficulties that arise in a creative process. As the three egos in the play navigate the choppy waters of their careers, their lives and the troubled film shoot, many themes emerge: father and son relationships, art vs. entertainment, abuse, addiction. The most universal one is perseverance. 

Jaws was the first film that was shot on the open water. It was fraught with difficulties even beyond the constant shooting delays due to Bruce, the mechanical shark. It went 100 days over schedule and $5 million dollars over budget. The harrowing process almost broke the crew, the stars, and its 27-year-old director, Steven Spielberg. It was a nightmare for virtually everyone involved. Many doubted the film would reach completion or amount to anything of worth. Who could have known how it would turn out in the end? Thankfully, they didn’t throw in the towel, but instead created a film that was not only a huge success at the box office, but has remained a cultural phenomenon. As Shaw says, “it is the grit in the oyster that produces the pearl.”

It’s a good reminder for us all. When we’re in the midst of a struggle, we really don’t know how it will end. More often than not, things turn out better than we could have imagined. We may even find the struggle was worth it in the end; but only if we don’t give up.

“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn,” or as Hooper says at the end of Jaws, “keep kicking.”

You might make something great happen.

-Joe Discher

Director
Joe Discher

Scenic Designer
Johann Fitzpatrick

Costume Designer
Barbara Erin Delo

Lighting Designer
Johann Fitzpatrick

Sound Designer
Sean McGinley

Props & Set Dressing
Judi Manfre

Production Stage Manager
Rebecca Donaghy

Assistant Stage Manager
Vintage Kovel

Scenic Charge
Erin Sagnelli

Wardrobe Supervisor
Arianna Polacheck

Production Manager
Erin Keirnan

Technical Supervisor
Nate Hamilton

Master Electrician
Stef Carr 

Dramaturg
Liv Fassanella

Lobby Design
Darlene Zoller, Judi Manfre, and Eileen Oconnor 

Production Photographer
Meredith Longo

Program Design
Liv Fassanella 

Program Printing
Budget Printers 

Poster/Postcard Design
Dornenburg | Kallenbach Advertising

We are grateful to the following people and businesses who made special contributions 
to this production of THE SHARK IS BROKEN.

Avery Heights Senior Living
Excel Fitness
Falcetti School of Music
Hoffman SummerWood Senior Living
Mandel Jewish Community Center
Mark Raymond & Gonzalez Bypass USA
Nina Elgo
Barbara Fletcher
Faith Fuerst
Nancy Naples
Richard & Lea Rubenstein
Annelieke Schauer

Co-Founder/Executive Director
Tracy Flater

Co-Founder/Artistic Director
Sean Harris

Co-Founder/Artistic Director
Darlene Zoller

General Manager
David Addis

Business Manager
Elizabeth Stassen

Company Manager
Kenneth Galm

Office & Development Manager
Emma Cook

Production Manager
Erin Kiernan

Master Electrician
Stef Carr

Technical Supervisor
Nate Hamilton

Director of Education & Community Engagement
Kevin Cronin

Education Faculty
Julie Borsotti, Kevin Cronin, Shannen Hofeimer, Darlene Zoller

Dramaturg/Literary Manager
Liv Fassanella

Development Associate
Jasmine Calhoun

Front of House Manager
Tori Mooney

Box Office Administrators
Liv Fassanella, Kenneth Galm

Webmaster
Rick Fountain 

E-Newsletter
Lisa Steier 

Members

Matthew Bragg
Douglas Cohen 
Joanna Engel
William Fish
Victor Gonzales
Sarah Jakubowski
Ryan McBride
Richard Rubenstein
Annie Scott
Noreen Shugrue
Vinod Sukhraj
Paige Tong
Betsy Udal

BOARD MEMBER EMERITUS

Matthew Bragg
Chuck Coursey, Founding VP
Nina Elgo
Kathy Frederick
Bonnie Gauthier
Carol McCabe
Margaret Rattigan
Julianne Roth
Robert Rowlson*
Ron Roy
Richard Rubenstein
Robert Slifka
Ruth Van Winkle
David Wurzer, Founding President

*Deceased

ADVISORY COUNCIL

Renee Autorino, Jim Bergenn, Valeria Caldwell-Gaines, David Calibey, Mayor Shari Cantor, Stefanie Chambers, Chris Conway, Anna Crawford, Matthew Cuddy, Jayne Dean, Kyra Dorsey, Kevin Doyle, Nina Elgo, Dan Falotico, David Figliuzzi, Matt Fleury, Jeff Forman, Gail Frahm, Kathy Frederick, Bob Hilborn, Susan King, Tyler Lauretti, Andy Lieberman, Dave Macri, Charles Mallory, Patricia McIntosh, Gloria Mengual, Michelle Meyer, Mike Michaud, Priya Morgenstern, Tanya Penman-Sterling, David Polk, Sarah Raskin, Mike Rouette, Wanda Seldon, Jonathan Slifka, Howard Sovronsky, Rachel Sptizig, Brittany Stephenson, Nyaunu Stevens, Yvette Young

Playhouse Theatre Group, Inc. at Playhouse on Park has a mission to: 

• provide quality entertainment at affordable costs to as broad an audience as possible
• embrace and provide opportunity for professional, emerging and community artists
• offer educational and outreach opportunities through visiting and/or resident artists and educators
• create and/or explore opportunities to collaborate with other existing arts organizations
• be fiscally responsible and accountable at all times
• continue to be an integral member of the West Hartford community