Submitted photo From left, Corban Baker plays Roy Scheider, Chuck Kettering plays Richard Dreyfuss and John Cox plays Robert Shaw in Youngstown Playhouse’s production of “The Shark Is Broken,” which opens Friday at The Playhouse Downtown.

Youngstown Playhouse is bringing a behind-the-scenes look at one of the biggest summer movie blockbusters of all time to its new performance space downtown.

“The Shark Is Broken” is about the making of “Jaws,” focusing on the behind-the-scenes drama involving the film’s stars — Robert Shaw as shark hunter Quint, Roy Scheider as Amity Police Chief Martin Brody and Richard Dreyfuss as marine biologist Matt Hooper.

The three very different actors spent many hours together on the film, which was over-budget and behind schedule for many reasons, from the challenges of filming on the water to a mechanical shark that seldom worked. The play was co-written by Shaw’s son, Ian Shaw, and Joseph Nixon, with Ian Shaw playing his father both in London and on Broadway.

It opens Friday for a two-weekend run.

John Cox, president of the Playhouse’s board, read about the play, saw it on stage and hoped to do it sometime at the Playhouse. Brendan Boyle didn’t know that when he included it on a list of plays he was interested in directing.

“It was kind of a perfect coincidence that we were both interested in it, and that’s why it ended up being chosen,” Boyle said.

One of the elements that appealed to Cox was that “Shark” might attract an audience beyond traditional theatergoers.

“They know what ‘Jaws’ is,” Cox said. “A lot of times that’ll bring people out just because of that curiosity. I thought it was perfect for Youngstown, and as an actor in his 50s, Robert Shaw is not a bad role to play. I was definitely excited for the audition, that’s for sure.”

Because “Jaws” and its stars are so well known, Boyle had to balance a variety of demands.

“They can’t look completely unlike the real-life person, but you can’t just pick somebody that looks like them,” Boyle said. “If they can’t act, you’re not going to have a good show. So it was definitely a tough balancing act.

“Sometimes somebody walks in the room and you think they don’t look like them, and then they start acting, and you think, ‘Actually, yeah, now they do.’ Once they put the performance in, that’s when it happens, and that happened with the three guys I ended up with.”

Cox plays Shaw, Chuck Kettering is Dreyfuss and Corban Baker is Brody in the Playhouse production.

Prepping for the roles involved more than just rewatching “Jaws.” While they are dressed like the characters in the movie, they’re not playing Quint, Hooper and Brody. They’re playing Shaw, Dreyfuss and Scheider.

“I’ve watched every Dick Cavett interview, any interview I could find with Robert Shaw,” Cox said. “There was a documentary on the filming of ‘Jaws’ during the time, and they had a lot of outtakes of those interviews. I watched every movie I could find in his filmography, just to figure out his walk, his actual voice. It’s been a lot of just digging into him as the character.

“Then we get to tie in certain things from the movie. The Indianapolis speech (where Quint shares his World War II experiences that shaped his attitude toward sharks) is paramount throughout the play. I’ve been frame-by-frame watching that scene, trying to figure out the mannerisms of watching the actor do his job and then make that look seamless. I love an acting challenge, I love being pushed, I love being scared. It’s definitely been all of those things.”

Shaw also spent much of his down time on the set drinking, so deciding when and how to play Shaw drunk, hung over or transitioning from one to the other also is part of the acting equation.

As the pictures with this story and the ones shared on social media indicate, the cast and the creative team definitely have captured the look of the three men. They were able to find a jacket like the one Quint wears throughout the film and recreate other details to capture visual elements of the film.

“As soon as the audiences see these men in costume, it will feel so familiar,” Boyle said.

Like most people, Boyle has seen “Jaws” many times, but he didn’t know all of the backstory until he started researching for the play.

“It went double its budget, double its shooting schedule,” Boyle said. “They were battling with the mechanical shark, Bruce, for which the show is named, but also they were shooting on the open ocean, which had never been done before. They were battling local authorities in Martha’s Vineyard. Obviously, the studio is trying to get their fingers in the pie as well … As you can imagine, these three very different men stuck on a boat for eight weeks together, the results can be pretty explosive at times.”

But it’s also a very funny play, Cox said.

“The show is becoming funnier and funnier,” Cox said. “We’re not trying to be funny, but I think there’s truth in comedy, so these little subtle things are coming out.”

This will be the second production at The Playhouse Downtown since the theater acquired the performance space at 220 W. Boardman St. Work on the theater was completed in time for the opening of “The Lyons” in March, but now the new carpeting is installed and the work in the lobby and other public spaces is completed.

“It’s kind of a grand reopening of the downtown space, so the combination of all this has really been exciting for everybody at the Playhouse,” Cox said. “We’re pretty stoked.”

If you go …

WHAT: “The Shark Is Broken”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday through June 28

WHERE: The Playhouse Downtown, 220 W. Boardman St., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $21 and are available online at experienceyourarts.org and by calling 330-259-9651.