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Stage 212 debuts “The Shark is Broken” · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Stage 212 debuts, the Shark is Broken. Written by Tom Collins. This
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  article is being read by an automated voice, brought to you by
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  Everlet. You've all see
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  The movie Jaws, maybe multiple times. But did you know that filming
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  it was an unrelenting nightmare for director Steven Spielberg and his lead
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  actors? If not, come down to stage 212 to see The Shark
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  Is Broken, a seriocomic portrayal of the film's tortured production. The Shark
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  is Broken centers on the interplay of Jaw stars Robert Shaw, Richard
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  Dreyfuss, and Roy Scheider, who’s were alternately at each other's throats in
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  discovering common ground during the prolonged delays in filming. Can you imagine
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  three people being trapped on a boat and waiting for hours between
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  takes? Said Dave Roden, who's directing the play for stage two hundred
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  twelve. These are three actors who have huge personalities and have to
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  be on a thirty foot boat and can't get away from one
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  another. Roden said he wasn't familiar with the play, but the premise
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  appealed to him enormously, not lice because of its timeliness. Last year
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  marked the fiftieth anniversary of the release of Jaws, and Roden concluded
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  the film would be fresh in the minds of local audiences. For
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  the uninitiated, Jaws was a 1974 bestseller by Peter Benchley, adapted into
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  a 1975 film. Though the film would become a critical and commercial
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  smash, Spielberg had underestimated the technical challenges of shooting on the water
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  and struggled with a mechanical shark that wasn't built for salt water
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  and constantly broke down. The resulting lags in shooting gave stars Shaw
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  and Dreyfuss ample time to snipe at one another, while Scheider tried
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  vainly to keep the peace between the two strong personalities. Shaw's son
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  Ian got hold of his father's diary, recognized the dramatic potential of
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  the backstory, and then co-wrote The Shark is Broken. The play debuted
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  in England in 2019 to widespread acclaim. Now the production has reached
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  LaSalle. Rodin said, Staging The Shark Is Broken has not, thankfully, been
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  as frustrating or complicated as filming Jaws. Nevertheless, there were challenges for
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  stage 212 to overcome. One was devising a set that would keep
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  the audience engaged. If We had all of these guys spend ninety
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  minutes inside the galley, everybody in they audience is gonna fall asleep.
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  The actors have to have places to go. We've got a fighting
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  chair, we got the bow, we've done some things with levels. We
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  know that on a boat that small people can talk to each
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  other from wherever they are. To cast this serious production, Roden found
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  three actors with completely different attachments to Jaws and its backstory. Jeff
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  Sudokov, cast as Shaw is a veteran actor who'd seen Jaws at
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  its cinematic release, and many times since and well knew about the
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  film's notorious production problems. Veteran or not, Sudakov said Shark has brought
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  artistic challenges that he's embraced. Shaw was born in England, raised in
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  Scotland, and later lived in Ireland, all of which engendered a unique
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  accent that's been tricky for Sudokov to reproduce. I've never played a
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  real person, Sudakov said. I've played a lot of fictional characters based
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  on real people, but the fact that. I’m playing a real life
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  person written by this real life person's son is a really unique
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  experience. Forrest Bowes plays Dryfuss and only recently viewed the 1975
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  film in preparation for the role. I
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  have admitting this, but I'm not like a huge movie buff or
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  anything like that. And I'm really upset that I hadn't watched it
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  any sooner because I watched it and I was like, this is
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  frankly phenomenal. Joshua Bush, cast as Scheiter, can honestly claim not to
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  have seen it at all. I have only seen a few minutes
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  of Jaws, Bush said. I'm terrified of sharks, so I've never seen
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  the movie the whole way through. That detachment, however, enabled both actors
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  to approach their parts with fresh eyes. Bose takes on the part
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  of portraying Dreyfus, who was cast in Jaws fresh off the set
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  of American graffiti, another smash that boosted Dreyfus profile and his ego.
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  Bush portrays Scheider, who tries to keep the peace between his strong-willed
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  co-stars. The Shark Is Broken, which is profane and recommended for mature
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  audiences only, appears at stage 212 from november thirteenth, fifteenth, and twenty
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  twenty two. Friday, performances begin at 7 30 p.m. With Saturday and
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  Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are 17 and available beginning November
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  2nd through the stage 212, box office or online at stage 212.org.
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  Stage 212 is located at 700 First Street in La Salle.