Theatre certainly isn’t short of pieces about the conflicted wunderkind or the struggling artiste. Art through adversity. The terrible genius.

Heck, right now, Mark Ravenhill’s delightful Ben & Imo, which pivots around the mercurial, temperamental brilliance of composer Benjamin Britten has just opened a visit to the Orange Tree Theatre after a well-received run at the RSC last year.

What lands The Shark Is Broken an extra wrinkle of intrigue is not just its atypical subject matter; conflict, ponderances and soul-searching done on the floating set of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 smash-hit Jaws. But more so the fact that this taut character piece is penned by and starring Ian Shaw, son of original Jaws star, the late, great Robert Shaw.

It’s an uncanny evocation of the actor’s celebrated, iconic father in one of his most enduring roles. Shaw channels his father’s frank, sardonic briskness yet irrepressible charm with gusto, threatening to swallow up his co-stars and Duncan Henderson’s neatly depicted recreation of the film’s ‘Orca’ boat more than any malfunctioning shark could.

“Shaw channels his father’s frank, sardonic briskness yet irrepressible charm with gusto…”

It is the summer of 1974. Three actors are sat on a boat off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard waiting to shoot scenes for rising director Spielberg’s new thriller. If filmmaking is interminably slow at the best of times (“it’s not the time it takes to take the take that takes the time…”), then here the downtime is only being amplified by their notoriously unreliable titular co-star.

Bottles of booze are stashed away (or stuck under table surfaces) whilst wagers, card games and even arm wrestles are on the agenda to wile away the hours of tedium.

For fans of Spielberg’s classic, much of what follows in the unbroken ninety minute run time plays out like an extended version of the film’s ‘scar’ scene, albeit bleeding out IRL. There are sobering accounts of relationships with fathers (leant extra pathos being penned by Shaw writing for and about his own father and grandfather), rumination on the wider changes happening in the entertainment industry, and all manner of jostling about the ‘quality’ of this turkey they are apparently filming. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Shaw’s now-celebrated ‘US Indianapolis’ speech proves to be a sort of emblematic anchor for it all, with the actor crankily besmirching the writing for this pivotal scene and taking it upon himself to repurpose it.

The dynamic between the three actors is neatly conveyed and a joy to watch. Ashley Margolis’ animated and at times almost pueirle take on Richard Dreyfuss proves a perfect counter to Shaw’s faultless invocation of his father. Whether gleefully setting his co-star up for a fall via a phone call to Harold Pinter or bursting with rage and even assault when Dreyfuss jetties one of his bottles of booze overboard, Shaw’s performance is bristling, hilarious and touching in equal measure. Crucially, he underpins the bombast and bravura with the venerable charm and dignity his late father carried so effortlessly.

Dan Fredenburgh finishes the hat as Roy Scheider, who, much like his on-screen character, if less showy than his counterparts regularly proves to be the stabilising and grounding influence in the trio.

And whilst there is plenty of the aforementioned soul-searching and contemplation to be found here, Shaw and co-writer Joseph Nixon keep this Shark swimming at a brisk pace. It’s regularly laugh-out-loud funny, too, admittedly much of which is courtesy of Shaw’s biting put-downs, asides and whimsies.

“For certain, there will surely be extra mileage here for fans of the film…”

Henderson’s staging – of a dissected replica of the film’s main setting – is a neat and nostalgic playground, buoyed by Nina Dunn’s film strip-cum-seascape video backdrop. Adam Cork gets a few early giggles with his original music floating around the edges of John William’s trademark ominous score.

For certain, there will surely be extra mileage here for fans of the film, and you could argue that Shark even goes a little overboard on the abundance of meta quips. ‘Nobody will be watching this film in fifty years’ time’, ‘Whatever next… dinosaurs?’ and the almost de rigueur quip that there will never be a more corrupt or questionable President than Nixon (cue laughter).

But minor quibbles aside, even as a standalone three-hander with no familiarity of the source material, this is a keenly observed and beautifully acted slice of theatre. With winning performances, witty and characterful writing that is leant extra poignancy by dint of that familial connection, The Shark Is Broken is a funny, fascinating foray into the old adage of art through adversity.

Now could someone please get a mechanic out to Bruce…