A deft play of fact and fiction arises in Wilma Theater’s ‘Archduke’
Blanka Zizka, who cofounded the company, makes a much-anticipated return as a director after a four-year absence.
Theater that leaves audiences with the option of drawing their own conclusions can be compelling. Preopening notices for Archduke, currently playing at Philly’s Tony award-winning Wilma Theater, made much of how the original script was rewritten to create an unresolved ending to the play.
Do historical events, however, leave room to ignore what occurred? The basis for acclaimed playwright Rajiv Joseph’s play is the prelude to the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This event is universally acknowledged as the spark that ignited World War I.
The play walks an entertaining line between fact and fiction, depicting the schooling of the assassination team — three young urchins trained to do the deed. But does the play pretend they did not?
The Wilma’s tradition of taking us into new stylistic experiences is an invaluable part of Philadelphia’s theater fabric. Blanka Zizka, who founded and served as coartistic director with her husband, Jiri, makes a much-anticipated return after a four-year absence.
Our anticipation is rewarded in the vivid focus and momentum she employs in her staging. She deftly brings to life the humor in Joseph’s script. Realized as much by behavior as language, the comedy is both fanciful and intellectual.
The casting is inspired. Actors Suli Holum as Gavrilo Princip (who pulled the historic trigger) and Sarah Gliko as Nedeljko deliver performances capturing an honest energy, insecurity, and impulsiveness in boyhood adolescence. Many male actors would struggle to do as well.
Several intermission discussions questioned, “Are both of those actors women?” Holum’s “I have to bite; I’m small” stopped the show. Gliko’s lies about sexual experiences were played with a precision that made them obvious to everyone in the house but Holum.
Brandon Pierce, as the third young assassin, Trifko, enters with an enraged sense of betrayal and skilfully negotiates a path toward eager willingness and submission. Melanye Finister offers the most tangible demonstration of the play’s many contemporary allusions. As the street-smart cook at the boys’ training facility, she exudes the strength of a man and the good sense of a woman. She stays only one smart step from brazenly dismissing her employer’s misogyny.
That employer (Captain Apis) is played with masterful balance by Steven Rishard. His character is entirely credible as both a forceful authoritarian and a sensitive paternal figure. Rishard’s ebullient pride in an assassination he successfully executed years ago is an ongoing point of subtle comedy and repelling ego.
The show reflects much of our current cultural and political trauma — misinformation, miscegenation, Jan. 6, religious obsession as political philosophy, even a hint of Kristi Noem’s animal slaying.
But the revised conclusion slows the action significantly. After forging powerfully ahead for 90 minutes, we’re given two scenes that are more reflective than active. Jorge Cousineau’s impressive digital scenography serves as the most exciting of the show’s concluding moments. We watch the boys wistfully talking themselves out of an act we know they committed.
Is this a What-if? It is a denouement without a climax. Would fictional names for fictional scenarios work? If the audience does not know history, they may leave saying, “Oh, I’m glad they didn’t do it.”
If they do know history, they leave saying, “What!?”
Archduke
(Community/Arts)
Rajiv Joseph’s play walks an entertaining line between fact and fiction, depicting the schooling of the team that assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand — three young urchins trained to do the deed. But does the play pretend they did not?
⌚️ Through May 4,📍 265 S. Broad St., 🌐 wilmatheater.org
Theater reviews are produced independently by The Inquirer without editorial input by their sponsor, Visit Philadelphia.