barebones productions Opens ‘The Shark is Broken’; Southern Avenue to Perform at Thunderbird Cafe (Fri., 5/30/25)

THE SHARK IS BROKEN by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon. barebones productions. May 30 – June 15. 

1) Perhaps you never imagined that cutting-edge contemporary theater would include a crazy comedy about the filming of the movie Jaws. If so, never underestimate where playwrights are liable to get their material. The Shark Is Broken is here, and it’s being staged in the Pittsburgh area by barebones productions. Also never underestimate the presence of nepotistic bloodlines in show business. The play was co-written by Joseph Nixon and Ian Shaw, son of the late actor Robert Shaw who played the shark hunter Quint in Jaws. And of course, actor Robert Shaw has become a character in The Shark Is Broken. Which seems to make this a rare case of father-son meta-theater concerned with the making of a scary movie. But fear not. There will not be blood. The comedy is set on a boat, where three actors—Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, and Roy Scheider—are hanging out, bullshitting and bragging about who-knows-what, while they wait for the production crew to fix Bruce, the broken mechanical shark. See The Shark Is Broken in the barebones black box. 8 p.m. Sold out. 1211 Braddock Ave., Braddock. (M.V.)

2) A hot band that has risen out of Memphis, Tennessee—Southern Avenue—is stopping by Thunderbird Cafe & Music Hall on their current tour. The band is composed of a racially and musically diverse mixture of young, but very talented musicians. Sisters Tierinii and Tikyra Jackson come from a Memphis church music culture and respectively provide the singing and strong drumming for the band. With her powerful vocals and energized dance moves, Tierinii is evocative of another female singer from Tennessee—Tina Turner. Ori Naftaly, an Israeli-born blues guitarist who came to the states as an accomplished solo artist is not only part of the band, but also part of the Jackson family as he is married to Tierinii. Ava Jackson rounds out the group contributing vocals, violin, and percussion and is also a Jackson sister. They make a powerful, beautiful sound. Southern Avenue, the band’s namesake street, cuts across Memphis all the way to Soulsville, where the legendary Stax Records once was. The group’s latest LP is Family.“ Through our music,” says Naftaly, “we expand our family to include our fans and whomever is moved by our songs.” 8 p.m. 4053 Butler St., Lawrenceville.

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