Archduke Off-Broadway Reviews

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.

Under the direction of Darko Tresnjak (best-known for helming A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder) “Archduke” is getting a distinctly professional production – precise design, game cast — for a play that was first produced in 2017 in Los Angeles as a commission of Center Theater Group, and didn’t need to be revived. Joseph has written better plays before and since.

Although much happens in Archduke, the ultimately fanciful drama adds up to not so much, frankly, in spite of being bolstered by a glossy, obviously expensive production expertly rendered by designers Alexander Dodge (set), Linda Cho (costume), Matthew Richards (lighting) and Jane Shaw (sound). Tresnjak’s staging rolls it all out smoothly, but the play merely ends and really never resonates.

Date: November 12, 2025 Author: Thom Geier 0 Comments Rajiv Joseph’s Archduke, a comedic retelling of the recruitment of the anarchist whose 1913 assassination of Austro-Hungarian ruler Franz Ferdinand triggered World War I, is like a contemporary version of a Shakespearean history play as filtered through Comedy Central’s Drunk History. Through episodes of offbeat jokes and over-the-top slapstick, Joseph brings a darkly humorous sensibility to a chapter in world history that we all probably think we know better than we do. The story centers on Gavrilo Princip (Jake Berne, wide-eyed and charming), the young Slavic anarchist who fired the fatal shots at the archduke and his wife, Sophie, in an attempt to rid Bosnia of rule by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In Joseph’s telling, though, Gavrilo and his two co-conspirators (Jason Sanchez and Adrien Rolet) are less true believers in the cause than accidental terrorists who are easy marks for recruitment to violence due to their less than flush circumstances. They’re unemployed, dim-witted virgins who feel hopeless in getting the attention of women, and they’ve all been given a fatal diagnosis of tuberculosis that spurs them to make a mark of any kind on the world while they still can. This makes them easy prey for a rogue military officer who needs some cannon fodder for his empire-toppling agenda. The brilliantly basso-voiced Patrick Page plays this svengali-like figure, nicknamed “Apis,” with a hilarious rhetorical flourish that’s equal parts drill sergeant, pompous professor, and cult leader. In many respects, Gavrilo and his comrades are not the best audience for Apis’ propaganda — more drawn to the prospect of a sumptuous meal (served by Kristine Nielsen with exaggerated gestures of domestic servitude) or even holding a gun or riding in a train to far-off cosmopolitan Sarajevo. archduke Patrick Page, Jason Sanchez, Adrien Rolet, Jake Berne, and Kristine Nielsen in ‘Archduke’ (Photo: Joan Marcus) Advertisement Joseph’s central insight is that the origins of terrorist cells — or even modern-day incels — can be located in the credulity of young men encountering persuasive older mentors blinding them to logic and offering a pathway to what they’ve long craved: acceptance, recognition, perhaps immortality. Or even just the prospect of a solid meal and the promise of long-overdue female companionship. When Sanchez’s Nedeljko first meets Gavrilo, he tellingly feigns knowledge of sex. “It’s like taking a bath with a bunch of rabbits,” he explains to his equally clueless new pal. “Feels soft and warm but also, ‘What am I doing here?'” In the drawn out second act, Nielsen’s Sladjana tones down the silliness to suggest to the young men that they need not actually go through with Apis’ plan to achieve their goals, that the comforts of their friendship and sense of mission may not outweigh the nagging questions they harbor about the violence of their assignment. Joining a group of terrorists may be soft and warm, but what are they actually doing here? By this point, Page has mostly disappeared and the comedic energy of the play dissipates as Joseph tries to corral his premise into a plausible if highly speculative ending. The script, reworked since its 2017 premiere in Los Angeles, still doesn’t entirely stick the landing. Director Darko Tresnjak, himself a native of Zemun, Serbia, where some of the action takes place, strikes a delicate balance between the absurdist humor and the play’s more philosophical ideas — and he deploys Alexander Dodge’s stylized turntable set, Linda Cho’s just-so costumes, and Matthew Richards’ lighting to excellent effect. Archduke is a diverting bit of alternate history, with some fine comic moments and an underlying message about how easy it can be to radicalize youth

For a riotously funny and unconventional new take on an infamous event in world history, with award-worthy performances and a top-notch design, Archduke is a must-see production that will keep you laughing and make you think.

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. 6