Read our review of Archduke, a new play by Rajiv Joseph that tells an alternative story of the young men behind Franz Ferdinand’s 1914 assassination.
Imagine that a world conflict was started not by the careful scheming of geopolitical powers, but by a group of hapless teenagers eager to prove themselves as men. This is the world of Rajiv Joseph’s Archduke, a character study of young Bosnian Serbs in the run-up to World War I, now playing with Roundabout Theatre Company. Dejected by poverty, hunger, and tuberculosis, the good-natured Gavrilo (Jake Berne) and irritable Nedeljko (Jason Sanchez) fall sway to the influence of Captain Dragutin “Apis” Dimitrijevic, played by the stoic wordsmith Patrick Page. Wooed by food and promises of fame, the young men soon abandon their religious condemnation of suicide and agree to martyr themselves to kill Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
If it matters, almost none of this is true: Gavrilo Princip’s first foray into politics was not mere days before the assassination, and Nedeljko Cabrinovic was a studied anarchist. While Berne infuses Gavrilo with a naïve sincerity, he may have believed that “when the angel Gavrilo blows his horn, the world is destroyed” more than Joseph’s play lets on. The young men also likely did not contract tuberculosis until they were imprisoned and thus did not have a carefree death wish based on their own ailing health.
Joseph’s script curiously does not assign the men surnames, as if perhaps these were different young radicals pondering a political assassination. The conceit of alternate history as wish fulfillment permeates the play and its unsatisfactory, reductive ending.
A program note from Roundabout interim artistic director Scott Ellis states that Archduke explores “why young men become radicalized and what pushes them to political violence.” This connection is tenuous at best. While Apis is transparently a conman manipulating his destitute wards, their loyalty to him hardly runs deep. Gavrilo and Nedeljko have a long opening scene to explain their backstories, but older recruit Trifko (Adrien Rolet) never gets to explain his own adherence to the Captain. At times, he seems just as blinded by treats as the others, like when Apis gives them beautiful black gloves (the Serbian underground militia Dimitrijevic led was called Black Hand), but he also acts as an enforcer who presents himself as more mature and seasoned than the new recruits.
Indeed, Gavrilo is not radicalized by Apis so much as by a beating from Trifko. Suddenly, Gavrilo agrees to kill the Archduchess and Archduke despite long-winded misgivings. While today’s mysterious radicals spend long hours online, being mentored for years by unknown allies far from the eyes of their loved ones, Gavrilo transforms in a scene.
His commitment to the cause — of which, again, the real Princip was a part but this Gavrilo knows almost nothing about — impresses and frightens his reluctant comrades, who may hop off the train to Sarajevo a stop early to seduce sex workers before they cough to death. There is no denying that Archduke is fun, but it is thin. Even with Page, one of the greatest actors of our time, on stage, Tresnjak’s production is more mirage than homage.
Archduke summary
Archduke is an alternate retelling of the life of Gavrilo Princip (Jake Berne), whose assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary sparked World War I. Recently diagnosed with tuberculosis, Princip seeks meaning in life and finds Nedeljko (Jason Sanchez), a quick-tempered ruffian who is devastated to learn the disease is fatal.
The boys are soon whisked away by Trifko (Adrien Rolet) to meet Captain Dragutin “Apis” Dimitrijevic (Patrick Page), who serves them food prepared by his eccentric chef, Sladjana (Kristine Nielsen), and regales them with tales of regicide. Convincing the young men that their tuberculosis is a metaphor for Austria-Hungary’s chokehold on Europe, Apis persuades the group to travel to Sarajevo and kill the Archduke.
What to expect at Archduke
Archduke runs approximately 2 hours, including a 15-minute intermission. The play includes graphic discussions of violence, murder, disease, and abuse of a corpse, and it also includes simulated violence and prop weapons. At the same time, However, Archduke is also a comedy that employs the physical talents of its ensemble, particularly Jason Sanchez as the ravenous Nedeljko.
What audiences are saying about Archduke
Archduke has an audience approval rating of 68% on the review aggregator Show-Score, with mixed reviews from theatregoers.
- Show-Score user chris_ says Archduke “should be 90 minutes no intermission, not 1 hour 55 minutes with [an intermission]. Parts are quite good and parts drag.”
- Show-Score user Moose Murders was not a fan of Archduke, calling it “unfortunately tiresome and shrill.”
- Show-Score user Mary V says the play is “very funny and thought-provoking” and praises Darko Tresnajk’s direction.
Read more audience reviews of Archduke on Show-Score.
Who should see Archduke
- The inimitable Patrick Page shines as Captain Dimitrijevic. Fans of Hadestown and 2023’s All the Devils are Here, Page’s solo show about Shakespeare’s villains, won’t want to miss another chance to see him on stage.
- Fans of Kristine Nielsen’s comedic chops, including her recent madcap turn in this season’s Smash, will enjoy her performance as the meddling cook Sladjana.
- History buffs may quarrel with some of Joseph’s interpretations of Princip and the Slavic rebels, but they will enjoy scenic designer Alexander Dodge’s detailed map of Europe decorating the walls of the stage.
Learn more about Archduke off Broadway
Despite the credentials of a Tony Award-winning director and talented cast, Joseph’s Archduke falls flat when its premise is poked. But if you can endure the lightning-speed history lesson, Archduke is worth seeing for its young talent: Berne, Sanchez, and Rolet prove themselves worthy even as their characters waver.
Photo credit: Archduke off Broadway. (Photos by Joan Marcus)
