I wasn't sure if I was in the mood for a tragicomedy about a continent slipping inexorably into war but I was quickly pulled in by Archduke, writer Rajiv Joseph's satirical imagining of what went on in the run-up to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, the event that triggered WW1.

 

Stanley Morgan, Abraham Popoola and Chris Walley (from BBC's Young Offenders), play three no-hopers who are roped in to do the killing by mad-eyed Slav Nationalist Captain Apis (Marc Wooton). They've been diagnosed with consumption and think they don't have long to live so why not go out with a bang? They aren't political, but the lure of sandwiches seals the deal.

 

The setting for most of the drama, which has already been a hit off-Broadway, is what resembles a snaking disused underground train tunnel. When they first meet, Princip (Morgan) and Nedeljko (Walley) resemble the two leads in Waiting for Godot, scruffy, aimless and bickering. There's some great knockabout slapstick in the opening scene-setter.

 

The mood changes from initial slapstick when the marginally more mature Trifco (Popoola) joins them. Then Apis turns up to rouse the rabble and housekeeper Sladjana (Janice Connolly, better known to comedy fans as Barbara Nice) seduces them with cake. 

 

The absurdist action, directed by Lyndsey Turner, moves briskly along. We do wonder if these useful idiots have the ability to carry out such a deed (and I have a memory from an old TV documentary that it did nearly go pear-shaped when they lost track of the Archduke's vehicle). The tragedy is that the horror of WW1 would have happened even if they had failed. Events were leading in that direction anyway.

 

The tone shifts further in the second half as the stark reality of what they are about to do takes shape. The three stooges are less excited about their mission than they are about the luxury seven hour train journey to Sarajevo. Es Devlin's moody subterranean set is switched for a plush railway carriage, accidentally prompting the biggest laugh of the press night when the train door wouldn't open and the trio had to improvise to get onstage.

 

I guess there are lessons to take away from Archduke. That innocent figures who think they have nothing to lose can easily be coaxed in the wrong direction. That you can't stop the tide of history. And that hungry people will do anything for a decent sandwich. If the tone is a little uneven at times, strong committed performances ensure that Archduke is never dull. Like watching an impending train crash it is impossible to look away.