The play ‘Marx in Soho’ directed by Mehrdad Khamenei is underway at Ezzatolah Entezami House Museum hall. The theme critically appraises issues facing modern societies.
The premise of this witty and insightful ‘play on history’ centers on Karl Marx’s protests to the authorities in the afterlife “for a chance to clear his name.” But “a bureaucratic error sends Marx to Soho in New York, rather than his old stomping ground in London, to make his case,” Honaronline reported.
‘Marx in Soho’ is a 1999 one-man play written by American historian Howard Zinn, on the life of the 19th-century philosopher Karl Marx. Zinn wrote the play to show Marx as few people knew him, a family man struggling to support his wife and children.
Zinn’s play focused on Marx and criticisms of the American society and capitalism, Khamenei noted.
The story depicts a resurrected Marx who defends the ideology of communism practiced in the former Soviet Union “to defend humanity from capitalism.”
The play character is more a 19th century philosopher influencing various political movements, rather than a husband or a jovial father. The character directly addresses current problems while implying family issues don’t receive much attention. The story is historical on one hand, and simultaneously updated on the other, Khamenei added.
He described the play as “wonderfully written” and pointed to the 70 minutes of monologue performance. “Even a 10-minute monologue might bore the audience, but this story, due to its interesting text, never seems long or boring.”
Actress Nasrin Saleh, who was selected among six performers, shows her talent in the performance.
Howard Zinn (1922–2010) was an American historian, author, playwright and social activist. He was a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn wrote more than 20 books, including his best-selling ‘A People’s History of the United States’.
The play will run through June 30.
