The Shark is Broken by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon. Directed by David A. Miller. Amphibian Stage, Fort Worth, TX, July 22 to August 16, 2026. Scenic design by Brian Clinnin; costume design by Hope Cox; lighting and projection design by Tristan Decker; and sound design by David Lanza. Fight choreography by Nathan Autrey. Properties design and stage managed by Kaitlin Hatton. Brandon J. Murphy as Robert Shaw, Brandon Wilhelm as Richard Dreyfuss, and Jakie Cabe as Roy Scheider. Scott Eddins, Jr., Understudy.
Production Photos
Click into the photos for captions.
Awards
The Shark is Broken was named Best Theater Production in Fort Worth Weekly’s Best of 2026 in both Readers’ Choice and Critic’s Choice categories.
Best Theater Production
Readers’ Choice (tie): Oil’s Well that Ends Well at Texas Star Dinner Theater (816 S Main St, Grapevine, 817-310-5588) and The Shark Is Broken at Amphibian Stage (120 S Main St, Fort Worth, 817-923-3012)
Critic’s Choice: The Shark Is Broken at Amphibian Stage
Like Art and a gazillion other plays before it, The Shark Is Broken proves we’ll never tire of three smart people in a room verbally sparring. And in the case of this Amphibian Stage show, physically sparring — that’s what happens when Richard Dreyfuss (Brandon Wilhelm) tosses a bottle of booze belonging to Robert Shaw (Brandon J. Murphy) overboard in this fictional retelling of the downtime spent among the two actors plus Roy Scheider (Jakie Cabe) during the 1974 filming of the 1976 summer blockbuster Jaws. Shaw is just a little displeased seeing his beloved drink go into the drink, which is just one of many dramatic moments in an entire production of frustration, rage, and resentment among three acclaimed actors who generally admire and respect one another. There’s a lot of laughs, too, some joyous but many more of the dark kind. Directed by David A. Miller with a script by one of Shaw’s children, Ian Shaw, with Joseph Nixon, the Phibs’ version showed what really good theater can do: humanize and civilize us. And that’s why it’s the best.
Reviews
“At a matinee last Sunday, the laughs came frequently over 100 intermission-less minutes as the men bicker, bond and almost come to blows. … Under the direction of David A. Miller, The Shark is Broken moves through the strife and stultifying delays to a kind of reconciliation.”
Manuel Mendoza, The Dallas Morning News
“Director David A. Miller and the cast members take the clever, quippy dialogue of the script and craft three hilariously different characters to enjoy.” –
Jan Farrington, Onstage NTX
“In this production, David A. Miller’s direction was finely tuned into each actor’s strength.”
Rich Lopez, Dallas Voice
“Miller and the talented creative team, cast, and crew have crafted a remarkable evening of theatre that is in equal parts funny and provocative. The combined effort of the creative team and the powerhouse three-man cast makes The Shark is Broken an unmissable production.”
Stacey L. Simpson, Dallas Theatre Journal
Process
One aspect of theatre-making I love is the many parts of the process and the many artists involved in making it happen. While directing The Shark is Broken, I snapped photos of not only the production itself, but of many parts of what led to the production. If you click into the photos on a desktop computer, you can read more about what parts of the process were captured.
