REVIEW: War is on the horizon in ‘Archduke’
Photo: Patrick Page stars in Archduke with Jason Sanchez, Adrien Rolet and Jake Berne. Photo courtesy of Joan Marcus / Provided by Polk & Co. with permission.
NEW YORK — Roundabout Theatre Company’s new production of Rajiv Joseph’s Archduke, running two hours with one 15-minute intermission, tells the events leading up to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which prompted the outbreak of World War I.
In the piece, Joseph, known for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, King James and Dakar 2000, has decided to emphasize the strange, dark humor that can be found in dire circumstances. He doesn’t make light of the attempted assassination or the pending violence; instead, as press notes indicate, he’s after the absurdity of having historical events shaped by “the least qualified recruits.”
Those recruits are Gavrilo (Jake Berne), Trifko (Adrien Rolet) and Nedeljko (Jason Sanchez), three young men who are in way over their head as they fall under the influence of Dragutin “Apis” Dimitrijevic (Patrick Page). Providing further humorous insight is Sladjana (Kristine Nielsen), an assistant who sets the decadent table in Apis’ grand ballroom.
At times, these young men come across as bumbling teenagers who are interested in teenager follies, characters who can’t keep details straight and seem doomed to botch their benefactor’s plans; they are cast as a hapless group clearly being manipulated by more well-informed and powerful forces, i.e. Apis.
Archduke tries to descend to the ground level of a major chapter in world history. Rather than staying on the surface with the politicians, presidents and military commanders, much like a more traditional historical pastiche would do, Joseph’s work is defined by its loyalty to understanding smaller decisions that lead to larger consequences. He’s trying to consider how radicalization starts, rather than the aftermath of that radicalization.
The opening scene, for example, is an extended conversation between Sanchez’s Nedeljko and Berne’s Gavrilo, and although one can sense a coming storm, Joseph writes the dialogue from a more youthful spirit. These are two young men with not much direction in life, and they are subject to undue influence. They horse around, bound across the stage with uninterrupted energy and are not exactly sure what to do with their life.
The acting is excellent, with Page’s booming voice commanding attention and Nielsen’s antics, somewhat subdued from her other stage roles, on comedic display. The three younger actors are also finely attuned to their characters’ contradictions, imbuing each with reality. Director Darko Tresnjak has the action play out on a stage that turns 180 degrees after every scene, allowing the characters to be transported from location to location with ease.
Not everything works in Archduke as well as intended. The pacing seemed slightly off at a recent performance, with some of the scenes dragging and the farcical elements not exactly landing in the audience’s ears. Cutting the intermission and trimming the play a few minutes could make this two-hour experience a faster-paced 90-minute rumination on war and its underlying causes. Some of the dialogue, too, felt authentically youthful, which is needed, but other times, it felt like constructed lines to serve a larger narrative.
Still, Archduke accomplishes its goal of having the audience consider history through an alternative lens, with a thought to how young people become radicalized and turn toward violence. One takeaway: Violence is never the answer.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Archduke, written by Rajiv Joseph and directed by Darko Tresnjak, stars Jack Berne, Adrien Rolet, Jason Sanchez, Kristine Nielsen and Patrick Page. Running time: two hours with one 15-minute intermission. The Roundabout Theatre Company production continues through Sunday, Dec. 21, at the Laura Pels Theatre in Midtown Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
