Archduke@Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre

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The Play: Archduke; a darkly comedic take on the events leading up to the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose death helped set off World War I

Written by: Rajiv Joseph        Directed by: Darko Tresnjak

One good thing: Patrick Page is having a grand time as the blowhard mastermind behind the plot and set designer Alexander Dodge has constructed a massive revolving turntable that delights in revealing one set location after another

One not-so-great thing: The history is shaky, the jokes are silly and the show seems to be striving to say something about how young men, especially those poor or jobless, can be so easily radicalized into violent acts but the way it delivers that message is too muddled to have the effect it desires 

 

 


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