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• UC-IMC presents Marx in Soho

Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States is one of the most widely read leftist books, and Zinn himself is a noted activist. It seems pretty natural, then, that Zinn should write a one-man play based on Karl Marx, the 19th century philosopher who wrote The Communist Manifesto.

The Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center hosted a production of Zinn’s Marx in Soho. The play asks what would happen if Karl Marx was sent back to earth to explain himself after the fall of communism and the supposed death of Marxism.

The one-man-show starring Marx, played by Jerry Levy, begins as he walks on stage, takes a bottle of beer and a stack of books out of his bag, then begins to discourse on his life, family and ideas.

The Marx that Levy presents is boisterous and affable. He recounts the wanderings that took him from the German Rhineland to the poorest parts of London with humor and without anger, and the philosophical meanderings from Idealism to communism. He tells stories of reading at the British library, saying with a laugh “the only thing more boring than reading political economy ... [is] writing political economy!”

Marx reminisces about his daughters — the dutiful Jennychen and the fiery Elanor — and his friendship with Engels. In all, Marx in Soho presents a thorough, nuanced view of the often-vilified founder of communism.

For all of its human touches, however, Marx in Soho is more of a quick introduction to Marx’s philosophy, as presented by Zinn, than a light evening at the theatre. Even the times when Marx comments on current events, which according to the program is supposed to “[convince] us not only that Marx is not dead but rather his critique of capitalism is more than relevant today,” come off as theoretical studies.

The play is unlikely to cause a revolt, and it seemed that most of the audience was convinced of there being at least some justice in Marx’s arguments. While Marx in Soho is an interesting look at Marx as man and philosopher, it has more in common with a school assembly than entertainment.