Shaw first gained attention in the lead role of Doug in The Rotters Club, the TV series based on Jonathan Coe’s novel, broadcast in 2004.
In 2005, Shaw played Benjamin in the UK tour of Oxford Stage Company’s production of Gregory Moton’s translation of August Strindberg’s Easter, directed by Dominic Dromgoole.
[5] In March 2012, Shaw played the central character, Misail Alexandrovich Polznev, in Peter Gill's adaptation of Chekhov's 'A Provincial Life', at the National Theatre Wales, Cardiff.
He adopts the life of a workman before moving to the country to run a school on the estate of the higher-born, dilettante wife, Marie, who eventually deserts him.
With adaptations by Blake Morrison the production toured across the length and breadth of Britain before finishing at St James Theatre, London in June.