(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- George Street Playhouse presents The Shark is Broken, written by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon (Spy), from April 29 through May 18, 2025. Directed by Peter Flynn (Fiddler on the Roof), the cast includes Jason Babinsky (Network) as Roy Scheider, Jeffrey M. Bender (A Time to Kill) as Robert Shaw, and Max Wolkowitz (The Sabbath Girl: The Musical) as Richard Dreyfuss.
The Olivier Award-nominated The Shark Is Broken brings the legendary actors of Jaws—Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider, and Richard Dreyfuss—face-to-face with their most absurd challenges during the filming of this iconic blockbuster. With a broken shark and tempers running high, this laugh-out-loud comedy dives into the hilarious behind-the-scenes drama of a movie shoot that goes anything but smoothly.
The Shark Is Broken reveals the absurdities and frustrations of filmmaking, through Hollywood’s most legendary (and most dysfunctional) set, where the shark isn’t the only thing that’s broken.
(L-R) Jason Babinsky, Jeffrey M. Bender, and Max Wolkowitz
Performances take place Wednesday – Saturday at 7:30pm, Saturday – Sunday at 2:00pm. Exceptions: there will be a 7:30pm performance on Tuesday April 29. Performances on Thursdays May 8 and May 15 will beg at 2:00pm & 7:30pm.
Tickets to The Shark is Broken begin at $25 and are available for purchase online. Groups of 10 or more save 20 percent. Performance Pass Flexible subscriptions are also available and begin at $65 per seat.
The Shark is Broken features scenic design by Anne Mundell (The Humans), costume design by Siena Zoë Allen (Maybe Tomorrow), lighting design by Alan Edwards (Harry Clark), sound design by Joanna Lynne Staub (Mother of the Maid), and projection design by Adam J. Thompson (The Turn of the Screw). Christina M. Woolard will serve as the Production Stage Manager. Casting is by McCorkle Casting.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director David Saint since 1997, George Street Playhouse produces groundbreaking new works, inspiring productions of the classics, and hit Broadway plays and musicals that speak to the heart and mind, with an unwavering commitment to producing new work. As New Brunswick’s first producing theatre, George Street Playhouse became the cornerstone of the revitalization of the City’s arts and cultural landscape.
The company has a rich history of producing nationally renowned theatre. The Playhouse continues to fill a unique theatre and arts education role in the city, state and greater metropolitan region. Edgar Herrera was appointed Managing Director on June 1, 2023. In the 2019-20 Season, George Street Playhouse moved to the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center in downtown New Brunswick. Featuring two state-of-the-art theatres—The Arthur Laurents Theater with 253 seats and The Elizabeth Ross Johnson Theater which seats 465—and myriad amenities, the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center marks a new era in the esteemed history of George Street Playhouse.
Founded by Eric Krebs, George Street Playhouse, originally located in an abandoned supermarket on the corner of George and Albany Streets, was the first professional theatre in New Brunswick. In 1984, the Playhouse moved to a renovated YMCA on Livingston Avenue, and in 2017 took temporary residence in the former Agricultural Museum at Rutgers University during construction of its new home.
The Playhouse has been well represented by numerous productions both on and off-Broadway. In 2018, George Street Playhouse was represented on Broadway with Gettin’ the Band Back Together which premiered on the Playhouse mainstage in 2013. American Son, produced by George Street Playhouse in 2017, opened on Broadway in 2018 starring Kerry Washington and Stephen Pasquale, and was seen on Netflix. Other productions include the Outer Critics’ Circle Best Musical Award-winner The Toxic Avenger. In 2015, It Shoulda Been You opened on Broadway and Joe DiPietro’s Clever Little Lies opened off-Broadway. Both shows received their premieres at the Playhouse. Other productions include the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Drama League Award-nominated production of The Spitfire Grill; and the Broadway hit and Tony® and Pulitzer Prize-winning play Proof by David Auburn, which was developed at the Playhouse during the 1999 Next Stage Series of new plays.
George Street Playhouse programming is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund.
