'Archduke' Review: A Twisted Take on History
Rajiv Joseph's 2025 play Archduke at the Royal Court Theatre offers a farcical reimagining of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which precipitated the first world war. The play focuses on Gavrilo Princip and his fellow conspirators, portraying them as hungry, sick young men radicalized by economic insecurity and historical grievance.
The Plot: Hunger and TB as Motivators
Unemployed and diagnosed with tuberculosis, Princip (Stanley Morgan) is recruited by Apis (Marc Wootton), a Slav nationalist, along with two other starving youths, Trifco (Abraham Popoola) and Nedeljko (Chris Walley). Apis fills their minds with rants about historical wrongs and their bellies with food from his housekeeper Sladjana (Janice Connolly). Their hunger is a major motivation, symbolized by fancy sandwiches.
Joseph's Historical Perspective
Joseph is known for illuminating oblique historical perspectives. His previous works include Guards at the Taj and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. In Archduke, he addresses imperialism, colonialism, and militarism through the radicalization of young men, using TB as a metaphor for a generation's loss of future. The conspirators are fervent Eastern Christians; Princip is named after the Angel Gabriel and murders for 'Mother Mary.'
Production and Design
Director Lyndsey Turner balances historical comedy and high seriousness, as she did in Ava Pickett's 1536. Designer Es Devlin interprets the main set as a railway tunnel vault, alluding to historian AJP Taylor's theory that rigid train timetables contributed to the war's outbreak. The final scene sees the conspirators boarding a train to Sarajevo, though on press night the carriage door malfunctioned.
Performance and Tone
The cast navigates the tragicomic tone well. A haunting final scene asks what if Princip had ducked his mission. The play suggests that the first global conflict might have just occurred on slightly different dates. Archduke runs at the Royal Court, London, until 25 July.
