By Matthew Wexler
You don’t have to look far on New York stages these days to discover stories about the assassination of political figures. The runaway Broadway hit, Oh, Mary! rethinks who may have pulled the trigger to fortify First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln’s career as a cabaret singer. And now Archduke arrives Off-Broadway with a firmer footing in historical context, but equally as off the wall in its comedy.
Playwright Rajiv Joseph takes inspiration from the 1914 assassination of Austria-Hungary’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand, centering the story on Serbian army captain Dragutin “Apis” Dimitrijevic (Patrick Page). Apis recruits three tuberculosis-infected young men—Gavrilo (Jake Berne), Trifko (Adrien Rolet), and Nedeljko (Jason Sanchez)—to help execute the plan, along with his “lady cook” Sladjana (an eccentric and captivating Kristine Nielsen).
Joseph leans into an absurdist theatricality through wordplay and etymology, but it’s when his characters speak plainly that the other boot drops in the soil of reluctant revolutionaries.
“You boys… my young men,” Apis lures, “You are dying of someone else’s sickness.” He recounts shooting the King and Queen of Serbia and disemboweling the pair before tossing them out the window. Not someone you want to get on the wrong side of.
But Page, maximizing his signature basso profondo, finds an unnerving warmth in one of the key strategists behind Ferdinand’s murder, which, in turn, spiraled into the start of World War I.
For some, the historical details may be a bit dense to follow, despite Joseph’s succinct writing and Page’s clarion delivery. In contrast, Berne, Roulette, and Sanchez, as the three sickly recruits, never quite reach the stylistic ease of their more seasoned counterparts.
When Apis asks his recruits why the Serbian king, knowing his life is over, refused to let go of the window ledge, Gavrilo—the frailest but unexpectedly fiestiest of the three—says, “When a man falls, a man tries not to fall.”
Transcending the subjectiveness of right or wrong, that singular human nature drives Archduke toward its inevitable conclusion.
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Fast facts: ‘Archduke’
Rajiv Joseph’s absurdist comedy Archduke finds unexpected humor in the assassination that sparked World War I, anchored by Patrick Page’s unnervingly warm performance.
- Roundabout at Laura Pels Theatre, 111 West 46th Street, New York City
- Two hours, including one intermission
- Performances through December 21, 2025
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