by Tim Leininger

(back row) Patrick Page (Dragutin “Apis” Dimitrijevic) (front row; l to r) Jason Sanchez (Nedeljko), Adrien Rolet (Trifko), Jake Berne (Gavrilo) Photo by Joan Marcus

            Making plays, musicals, and movies that satirize assassinations isn’t a new thing, but it’s definitely still a rare thing. Maybe the most renown is Stephen Sondheim’s classic Assassins, but a new play has arrived off-Broadway at Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, with Rajiv Joseph’s dark comedy, Archduke, directed by Darko Tresnjak (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Anastasia), running through Dec. 21.

            Set in the days leading up to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which would ultimately be the spark that started World War I, Archduke, looks at the assassination from the perspective of the would-be assassins as they get wrapped up in political debate and intrigue, questioning the value of life, particularly their own, as they prepare for their mission.

(l to r) Jason Sanchez (Nedeljko), Jake Berne (Gavrilo), and Adrien Rolet (Trifko) Photo by Jan Marcus

            A thick layer of social commentary encompasses Archduke about the disposability of the sick and working class, and this is where Joseph’s biting commentary hits deepest. Gavrilo (Jake Berne), who was the man who actually killed Ferdinand, has consumption, as well as his conspirator Nedeljko (Jason Sanchez). The two weigh the value of their own lives, knowing they’re going to be dead within months from their disease, and the desire to want to have some sort of impact on the world, or just have a delicious sandwich, which is exploited by Dragutin “Apis” Dimitrijevic, played with hilarious pomposity by Patrick Page (Hadestown, Saint Joan). Along with their third conspirator, Trifko (Adrien Rolet), they question if they have the stomach to do what they have been called to do.

            The humor of Joseph’s play is rooted in the naivete in the three men, which is most hilariously…and disturbingly…represented in a scene in a chapel where Dragutin’s servant, Sladjana (Kristine Nielsen) feeds the young men what they believe to be bourbon-soaked cherries.

            Most of the play takes place in Zemun, a neighborhood of Belgrade, which is in now modern-day Serbia, which makes Tresnjak the optimal director for the play as he grew up in Zemun. His dark comedy spirit that was present in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder is present here as well. He pushes the humor just as far as it needs to go without breaching that threshold of becoming repulsive. Even the aforementioned scene of the cherries, as grotesque as it can be, we laugh because of how Tresnjak tailors it, and every scene for that matter, to appreciate that these characters are not only disturbed, but desperate and looking for purpose when their own deaths are near. They are mentally unstable and dangerous, but those qualities, when elevated to just the right height, can be delicately satirized.

(l to r) Patrick Page (Dragutin “Apis” Dimitrijevic), Jason Sanchez (Nedeljko), Adrien Rolet (Trifko), Jake Berne (Gavrilo), Kristine Nielsen (Sladjana) Photo by Joan Marcus

            The two characters that grounds the play to a degree are Gavrilo and Nedeljko, and Berne and Sanchez are excellent in exposing their vulnerabilities and fears that not only show their susceptibility to manipulation, but also shows their humanity. It allows us to recognize that these men were flawed pawns in a greater scheme, pitiable, but not necessarily overly sympathetic. They are, in part, responsible for as many as 22 million deaths after all. Joseph recognizes this in the text, and the play’s final brilliant line, spoken by Gavrilo, measures that fact on himself and for the audience to dwell upon as the play ends.

            Alexander Dodge has created another magnificent stage with a wall set on a turntable, which I thought at first would limit space for the cast to move around, but ended up being quite effective in presenting the enormity of what is happening with a giant map of eastern Europe, while maintaining an almost claustrophobic feel of the world which the would-be assassins live in.

            Archduke is an excellently executed dark comedy. It’s a bit disturbing at points, but only long enough to keep the audience adequately uncomfortable, to make them laugh for the next comic moment. It’s a delicate balance of socio-political intrigue with the absurdity of the minds of those who would carry out such a heinous act. Archduke will make you laugh in the most uncomfortable of situations, as great theater should.

ARCHDUKE

TICKETS: https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/

PRODUCTION: Written by Rajiv Joseph; Directed by Darko Tresnjak; Set Design: Alexander Dodge; Costume Design: Linda Cho; Lighting Design: Matthew Richards; Sound Design: Jane Shaw; Hair, Wig & Makeup Design: Tom Watson; Fight Director: Rocio Mendez; Production Stage Manager: Katie Young; Production Manager: Sightline Productions; Casting: Carrie Gardner, CSA; Press Representative: Polk & Co.; General Manager: Nicholas J. Caccavo; Directors of Development: Lane Hosmer, Erin Mooney, Kristen Robinson, CFRE; Directors of Artistic Producing and Play Development: Nicole Tingir MacMillan, Abigail Katz; Founding Director: Gene Feist

CAST (in alphabetical order)

Jake Berne as Gavrilo

Kristine Nielsen as Sladjana

Patrick Page as Dragutin “Apis” Dimitrijevic

Adrien Rolet as Trifko

Jason Sanchez as Nedeljko