Archduke Off-Broadway Tickets, News, Info & More
Laura Pels Theatre
Harold & Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre 111 West 46th Street New York, NY 10036
Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) brings his signature wit and imagination to the New York premiere of ARCHDUKE.
Directed by Tony Award® winner Darko Tresnjak (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder) and featuring Tony nominees Patrick Page and Kristine Nielsen, as well as Jake Berne, Adrien Rolet and Jason Sanchez, this darkly comic play follows Gavrilo Princip, better known as the assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his fellow revolutionaries, reimagined not as masterminds but rather a hapless, helpless band of teenagers. With razor-sharp humor, Archduke transforms a pivotal moment in global politics into an absurdly relevant theatrical experience, reminding us that too often world history is written by the least qualified recruits.
Archduke - Off-Broadway Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Archduke
Patrick Page commands ‘Archduke’ as history’s most persuasive assassin
6 / 10
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
‘Archduke’ offers a drunk history lesson on recruiting young terrorists (Off Broadway review)
7 / 10
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
Video: Patrick Page and More in ARCHDUKE at Roundabout Theatre Company
by Chloe Rabinowitz - November 20, 2025
by Chloe Rabinowitz - November 20, 2025
You can now get a first look at Roundabout Theatre Company's Off-Broadway production of Archduke, starring Patrick Page and more. The production is playing at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre.
Review Roundup: Rajiv Joseph’s ARCHDUKE Opens Off-Broadway
by Chloe Rabinowitz - November 13, 2025
by Chloe Rabinowitz - November 13, 2025
Now playing at Roundabout Theatre Compny is Rajiv Joseph’s Archduke, directed by Darko Tresnjak. The new play just opened at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. See what the critics are saying.
Photos: Inside Opening Night of ARCHDUKE
by Jennifer Broski - November 13, 2025
by Jennifer Broski - November 13, 2025
Now playing at Roundabout Theatre Compny is Rajiv Joseph’s Archduke, directed by Darko Tresnjak. The new play just opened at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. Check out photos here!
Photos: Patrick Page and More in ARCHDUKE at Roundabout Theatre Company
by Chloe Rabinowitz - November 6, 2025
by Chloe Rabinowitz - November 6, 2025
You can now get a first look at photos of Roundabout Theatre Company's Archduke, starring Tony Award-nominee Patrick Page as “Dragutin ‘Apis’ Dimitrijevic” and more.
Photos: Patrick Page and More in Rehearsals for ARCHDUKE
by Chloe Rabinowitz - October 7, 2025
by Chloe Rabinowitz - October 7, 2025
You can now get a first look at rehearsal photos of Archduke at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. Learn more and see how to purchase tickets.
Photos: Meet the Cast of Rajiv Joseph's ARCHDUKE at Roundabout
by Jennifer Broski - September 30, 2025
by Jennifer Broski - September 30, 2025
Next up at Roundabout Theatre Company is the New York premiere of Archduke by Rajiv Joseph, directed by Tony and Obie Award-winner Darko Tresnjak. The cast just met the press and you can check out photos here!
Complete Cast Set for Rajiv Joseph's ARCHDUKE at Roundabout
by Chloe Rabinowitz - September 3, 2025
by Chloe Rabinowitz - September 3, 2025
Roundabout Theatre Company has revealed the complete cast for the New York premiere of Archduke by Rajiv Joseph, directed by Tony and Obie Award-winner Darko Tresnjak. Learn more!
Roundabout Theatre Company Sets Dates for ARCHDUKE Off-Broadway
by Chloe Rabinowitz - August 15, 2025
by Chloe Rabinowitz - August 15, 2025
Roundabout Theatre Company has revealed the dates for the New York premiere of Archduke by Obie Award-winner and Pulitzer Prize-finalist Rajiv Joseph. Learn how to purchase tickets!
Archduke History
Other Productions of Archduke
| 2025 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2026 | West End |
West End |
Videos