A few years in the past, my husband and I launched our daughter to the film Jaws. It’s lengthy been a favourite of my husband’s, and we each keep in mind the frenzy the movie (and its sequels) induced when launched. Household lore is that he and his sister had been afraid to get into the bath for days after seeing it.
However when our 11-year-old watched it, she laughed. After which, throughout Quint’s well-known recounting of the USS Indianapolis catastrophe, she fell asleep. Ah, properly.
It’s true; not every thing concerning the 1975 Steven Spielberg movie holds as much as trendy scrutiny, and the consequences, after all, appear foolish in comparison with right now’s CGI capabilities. However few would argue with its designation as the unique summer season blockbuster, a memorable basic, which is why we return to it yr after yr … and why it’s such good fodder for parody.
Good Luck Macbeth Theatre Firm has earned a fame for its parodies of basic favorites—some pre-existing, and a few truly conceived and written in home by gifted groups of native writers/performers. Nowhere is that extra obvious than with the corporate’s newest manufacturing, Shark!, a foolish, campy parody of Jaws that provides loads of Easter eggs and deep dives into plot factors for die-hard followers, but in addition permits an entire new technology to dip their toes within the water, with loads of snark, native references and present pop-culture callouts.
It’s summer season within the seaside city of Amity, on the opening day of its summer season Artown celebration. Vacationers are flocking to the seashores, however a younger blonde was just lately killed by a shark, so Police Chief Brody (performed by Brandon Collins) needs to shut the seaside. The mayor (Cory Easley) flat-out refuses, with so many vacationer {dollars} at stake. When little 6-year-old Alex and his oddly geriatric mom, Mrs. Kintner (Liz O’Neill)—why is she so previous?—be a part of the beachgoers, Alex is killed in a shark assault.
Now the group is out for blood. Native grizzled shark hunter Quint (David Richards) gives his know-how and his boat (for a worth) to go kill the shark. Chief Brody, who has been fearful of water ever since a nasty expertise with a Kevin Costner movie, should resolve the problem and reopen the seaside, however he wants reinforcements.
Enter Matt Hooper (Leif Aucoin), a marine biologist with J.A.W.S., the Joint Aquatic Moist Scientists, who claims to grasp sharks and know kill this explicit menace (which is performed brilliantly by comic Nick Josten). Brody and Hooper take Quint up on his supply and head into open water to seek out little Alex’s killer.
Whereas Shark! primarily follows the fundamental plot of Jaws, it additionally highlights how foolish and peculiar a lot of the unique movie (and its namesake e-book) truly is. It additionally manages to skewer way more than that—as an example, our personal native theater scene, a controversial native persona we like to hate, and a memorable Tremendous Bowl halftime present.
It’s a brisk 90-minute present, and you’ll spend nearly the complete time laughing, I guarantee you. Many kudos are as a result of GLM writing workforce, a workforce of longtime native performers whose confirmed comedic chops are razor sharp: Amanda Alvey-Fannin, Ashley Atack, Rhiannon Field, Ryan Costello, Ryan Kelly, Mojo Montelongo and Ian Sorensen. A lot credit score additionally goes to director Greg Klino, who needed to captain this ship of foolishness and did so admirably.
You may have a sea of leisure choices to select from this month, however it is best to make some extent to dive into this soon-to-be basic from GLM. It’s a beautiful reminder of how deep our native pool of remarkable comedic expertise actually is.
Good Luck Macbeth’s manufacturing of Shark! can be carried out at 7:30 p.m., Thursday by way of Saturday; and a pair of p.m., Sunday, by way of Saturday, July 29, at 124 W. Taylor St. Tickets are $28 to $38, with reductions. For tickets or extra info, name 775-322-3716, or go to goodluckmacbeth.org.