The Chauffeur

Leopold Lojka was the driver of the car carrying Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in their visit to Sarajevo in 1914. History claims that when driving away from Sarajevo on 28 June he took a wrong turning and stopped the car right in front of the assassin who then shot and killed the royal couple. That assassination started the domino effect which led – only 6 weeks later- to the First World War and 16 million deaths.

However there is more to this story than that simple account.  Having researched the events that both led up to the assassinations and to Lojka’s death in 1926 Roger Mayhew has written an encounter between Lojka and a mysterious stranger based on the known history of the time.

The running time for the play is 45+ minutes. Roger’s plan is to pair it with another short play which he is currently writing and which features a second character from WW1

7.30 at the North London Tavern.