Central Works Closes 36-Year Run with World Premiere of "The Prince Parts 1 & 2"

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Written and directed by artistic director Gary Graves, the world premiere runs at Berkeley's Central Works.

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Central Works has now officially announced the final production of its 36th season: The Prince Parts 1 & 2, written and directed by Artistic Director Gary Graves.

Running July 18 through September 6, this ambitious two-part, six-act work—world premieres #80 and #81 for the company—brings to culmination Graves' decades-long exploration of Niccolò Machiavelli and the political world of Renaissance Florence.

Graves first wrote The Prince in 1986 while a graduate student studying playwriting. Since then, he has returned repeatedly to Machiavelli's life, ideas, and historical milieu, developing the story through multiple forms and several Central Works productions over the years. The Prince Parts 1 & 2 represents the most expansive realization of that work to date, attempting to encompass the full arc of Machiavelli's career and intellectual evolution.

“I've been wrestling with the story of Niccolò Machiavelli's ‘life and times,' his intersection with so many remarkable characters from history, and his whole angle on the nature of power politics in the world, for almost my entire adult life,” says Graves. “The story has been through many different versions and forms. We've treated several episodes in Machiavelli's life in several productions here at Central Works over the years, but The Prince Parts 1 & 2 attempts to treat the whole arc of the man's career in one long, six-act play, broken into two parts.”

At the center of the work is not only Machiavelli himself, but the fate of Florence—a fragile republic surrounded by warring powers in the volatile landscape of High Renaissance Italy.

“The real protagonist of the story, however, is Machiavelli's beloved homeland, the state of Florence,” Graves continues. “The Florentine republic, like our own, was modeled on the ancient Republic of Rome. And the tensions between the interests of the people and the interests of the state haven't really changed all that much. The real protagonist in this play is our republic, in the words of Ben Franklin , ‘if we can keep it.'”

Inspired by Machiavelli's infamous political treatise The Prince, the production examines the origins of modern political thought through the intertwined lives of historical figures, artists, and rulers.

The Prince Part 1 follows young Machiavelli's entry into Florentine politics, including his mission to the “Mad Monk” Girolamo Savonarola and his encounter with the ruthless Duke Cesare Borgia.

The Prince Part 2 traces Machiavelli's rise as a political strategist, his dealings with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, his exile, and his attempt at redemption through his most famous—and controversial—writing, alongside a darkly comic conspiracy involving the Cardinal of Florence. Together, the two parts form one continuous narrative of ambition, ideology, art, and survival in a world defined by shifting alliances and relentless political calculation.

This production also arrives at a significant moment in Central Works' institutional history. Earlier this year, the company announced that Co-Directors Jan Zvaifler and Gary Graves will step down at the conclusion of the 2026 season, marking the end of a 36-year era of producing original plays for the Berkeley-based company.

Zvaifler, a founding member of Central Works, and Graves, who joined in 1994, have overseen the creation of an extraordinary body of work, culminating in 81 world premieres. According to Graves, “It's not that the money ran out, or that people stopped coming, or we ran out of new plays we wanted to do—it's just time.” Board President Elise Mikiten adds simply, “It's been a good run.”

The cast includes Mark Farrell as Girolamo Savonarola and Niccolò Machiavelli (Part 2), Brennan Pickman-Thoon as Duke Cesare Borgia and Michelangelo Buonarroti, Kevin Singer as Niccolò Machiavelli (Part 1), Lorenzino de' Medici, and Battista della Palla, Marah Sotelo as Zenobia Buondelmonte, and Michael Ray Wisely as Leonardo da Vinci and Luigi Alamanni.

The production is performed in rotation, allowing audiences to experience either part individually or the complete two-part epic.

July 18, 19, 25, 26; August 8, 14, 16, 20, 21, 29, 30; September 1, 5, 6

Previews: July 16, 17

Press Night: July 18

August 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 13, 15, 22, 23, 27, 28; September 4, 5, 6

Previews: July 30, 31

Press Night: August 1

View the calendar here

Central Works is a Berkeley-based theater company dedicated to the development and production of new plays through a collaborative process involving playwrights, actors, directors, and designers. For over three decades, the company has created original works that explore contemporary issues, historical narratives, and enduring questions of human society.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/san-francisco/article/THE-PRINCE-PARTS-1-2-to-Close-Central-Works-Final-Season-After-36-Years-20260609)._