Good Luck Macbeth’s ‘Shark!’ attacks sensibilities in laughably ridiculous ways

By Kylie Burns | Photos by Mary Claire Boucher and Bob Conrad

For this year’s Artown, Good Luck Macbeth is putting on an original production spoofing the classic Steven Spielberg film “JAWS.”

The plot remains the same: a man-eating shark is feasting on beach patrons and a rag-tag team consisting of a cop, a scientist and a fisherman take to the water to save the town.

Since the parody was written by a team of local writers, there’s a lot of local humor injected in the show that I always appreciate as an audience member.

The backdrop was perfect for the summer, and there were some moments that got some big laughs from the audience.

I want to highlight Nick Josten’s performance specifically. He plays Bruce, the man-eating shark, among other random characters. His delivery was hilarious and anytime I spotted him on stage I knew I was in for a treat.

In general, though, I didn’t find the show to be as funny as I’d have hoped to.

A lot of the humor banked on the audience thinking random = funny. For example, at times some beach patrons would be dressed in ridiculous attire – like a Mandalorian helmet – but instead of finding the joke in this I was just confused.

If you enjoy “Saturday Night Live”-style humor, though, then there will be a lot for you to enjoy in this production. Personally, it’s not my cup of tea.

I did enjoy the second half of the show more than the first. In this half the main cast of characters was out in the ocean tracking down the shark, an area of the plot that felt a little more focused.

Side note: I have never seen “JAWS” prior to this show, but I did make sure to give it a watch before finalizing my opinions.

Prior viewing of the classic film is not required to enjoy “SHARK!,” but it will help certain scenes to make sense. After watching the original film, though, I want to commend the casting done for this show. Each character resembled their original counterpart so perfectly – truly impressive!