An absurdist, unexpected take on one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the world
Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph is having a surge of popularity in London, with Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo being presented at the Young Vic in 2025 and the European premiere of Archduke now playing at the Royal Court.
This play follows the story of three 19-year old Serbian men given the task of assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his wife Sophie, thus starting World War One. Taking artistic liberties with the truth, Joseph imagines if, instead of taking the opportunity to shoot the pair, Gavrilo Princip decided to stay stationary on the sidewalk eating his sandwich.
Examining the motivation of the Serbian society of the Black Hand through an absurdist lens, director Lyndsey Turner takes the audience down a (literal) tunnel of unexpected twists and turns. A line of dark humour runs through the script, further enhanced by often farcical levels of physical comedy.
Exceptional performances from the whole cast keep this play rocketing along. Chris Walley plays a naive and hilarious Nedeljko, with Abraham Popoola as the vocally loyal follower Trifko. Marc Wootton leads the piece further and further into the absurd, with a camp portrayal of revolution leader Dragutin Dimitrijevic AKA ‘Captain’. Janice Connolly is the only female character in this testosterone-heavy production, playing the talented and superstitious ‘lady cook’ Sladjana.
Stanley Morgan is the leading man as Gavrilo, with a moral compass that teeters from one end of the spectrum to the other, to the point of potentially starting ‘the war to end all wars’. Backgrounded by a truly spectacular set by Es Devlin, this production is a visual feast. A towering pudding, glowing cyanide and a disappearing dagger all feature in the circular set design, with an intricate train carriage appearing to great audience admiration before the final scene.
Unfortunately, what lets this production down is the rampant misogyny. Captain uses classic language of domestic abusers to justify why he was forced to kill the previous ‘whore queen’. She made him do it because she is, like all women, a witch. When Gavrilo objects to shooting a woman he is soon convinced that he has also fallen victim to such witchcraft. Although often framed as a joke, graphic descriptions of violence against women joyfully told and justified doesn’t quite align with many people’s idea of humour.
An unexpectedly absurd piece of energetic theatre, Archduke plays with the boundaries of what theatre can be. See it at the Royal Court Theatre until July 25, 2026.
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