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The Last Goat

Central Works' Premiere About Isolation and Desire

By: - Jul 03, 2025

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Central Works’ unique position in the East Bay market is producing world premiere plays, the current offering being their 77th.  Usually designed for small casts due to the company’s tiny residence at Berkeley City Club, The Last Goat is a three-hander written and directed by company Co-Director Gary Graves.  Its twist on a traditional family theme of elder care triggers turns in the plot that result in a highly entertaining experience with a tense narrative and outstanding execution.

Set on the remote Greek island of Kasos in the 12th century BC, two women live in a large, old house - an older woman, Melina, played as dour and suspicious by Jan Zvaifler, and her granddaughter, Kori, portrayed as restless and yearning by Liris Robles.  Blessed with a water source in an otherwise inhospitable terrain, they grow wonderous produce and catch fish from the sea, but they are down to their last goat.  Kori dreams of escape to a normal world, but one of the foundations of family life is that the younger generation, especially females, care for the older when they are in need.

Into their lives comes an intruder, a young man, Nikolis, performed by a seemingly sincere but crafty Andre Amarotico.  His story is that he is from a wealthy family in Mykonos; was returning from war in Ilios; and his boat was sunk by a sea monster of some sort.  He seeks sustenance, shelter, and a way to get back home.

The plot concerns the interactions among the three characters.  We soon learn that, like the goat, the women represent the end of an era as the only remaining humans on an island that has been depleted by plague and war.  But they differ on fight or flight in response to the adversity.

Informed by previous experience, Melina bears an inherent distrust of men, always meeting Nikolis with a knife in her hand.  Zvaifler’s Melina is harsh, cautious, and defensive.  Though he is deferential to the point of obsequiousness, she cynically questions Nicolis’s every motive, repeatedly asking him why he is here and assuming that he holds unstated aspirations at the women’s expense.  At the same time, Kori and Nikolis seem attracted to one another, but is it real, or does each see a way to use the other?  Kori resents and squabbles with her grandmother; finds Nicolis appealing; is prepared to abandon her grandmother to total solitude; and sees Nikolis as her ticket out, if they only had a seaworthy boat.

Along with the characters’ verbal thrusts and parries come unexpected revelations from their backstories that make for more complex relationships in an engrossing triangle of mistrust.  Nikolis’s clumsiness in responding to some questions only heightens Melina’s skepticism about his trustfulness. Meanwhile, Melina discloses to Kori stories about her parents that the latter had never heard.   Intrigue sets the stage for additional conflict.  Is there a way that these three can reconcile their differences and find some way forward?

The production is well crafted with Central Works’ typically spare staging, which in this case seems appropriate given that décor would not have been well developed in the Bronze Age.  One anachronism however is the use of contemporary costumes, but that decision does allow situational dressing that works well and that the audience can understand.

Acting is solid with particular kudos going to Amarotico, who deserves recognition even before beginning his main role.  At (figurative) curtain up, he masterfully portrays a highly effusive and interesting professor who gives a lecture on the Bronze Era and the locale of the play’s action.  His range is extended as he adroitly expresses the many faces of the opaque Nikolis.

Beneath the surface, The Last Goat explores numerous themes.  Beyond family loyalty and responsibility, it examines self-determination, personal relationships, and life’s priorities.  It is a thoughtful and thought-provoking work.

The Last Goat, a world premiere written by Gary Graves, is produced by Central Works and plays at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley, CA through July 27, 2025.