Rajiv Joseph and Giovanna Sardelli. Photo by Lia Chang

Patrick Page, Josiah Bania, Joanne McGee, Ramiz Monsef, Stephen Stocking and Todd Weeks Set for Rajiv Joseph’s ARCHDUKE at the Taper, April 25-June 4

Rajiv Joseph and Giovanna Sardelli. Photo by Lia Chang
Rajiv Joseph and Giovanna Sardelli. Photo by Lia Chang

Center Theatre Group is presenting  the world premiere of Archduke by Rajiv Joseph. Directed by Giovanna Sardelli, Archduke begins previews April 25, opens May 7 and continues through June 4, 2017, at the Mark Taper Forum.

The cast includes Josiah Bania,  Joanne McGee, Ramiz Monsef, Patrick Page, Stephen Stocking and Todd Weeks.

The creative team includes scenic design by Tim Mackabee, costume design by Denitsa Bliznakova, lighting design by Lap Chi Chu, music and sound by Daniel Kluger and casting by Telsey + Company.

Archduke follows the unlikely path to terrorism as three strangers, already struggling to get by, receive a death sentence in the form of a tuberculosis diagnosis. But being young men with nothing to lose in Belgrade, 1914, makes them the perfect recruits for a secret organization looking to strike a blow in the name of Serbian nationalism.

Archduke explores the short journey from individual hardship to public harm as personal desperation is cultivated into an act with international significance and a few average men spark World War I.

Rajiv Joseph. Photo by Lia Chang
Rajiv Joseph. Photo by Lia Chang

Rajiv Joseph’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo premiered at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2009 before moving to the Taper in 2010 and Broadway in 2011. Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo was named a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama and was also awarded a grant for Outstanding New American Play by the National Endowment for the Arts. Joseph’s play Guards at the Taj was a 2016 Obie winner for Best New American Play and 2016 Lucille Lortel winner for Best Play. His other plays include The North Pool, Gruesome Playground Injuries, Animals Out of Paper and The Lake Effect. His plays have been translated and produced worldwide.

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Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits
Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits

Lia Chang is an award-winning filmmaker, a Best Actress nominee, a photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in  Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.

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