[Howard Zinn raw #48: A rendition of Zinn’s “Marx in Soho”]

Footage from Howard Zinn's play "Marx in Soho."

0:04Copy video clip URL Camera opens on Howard Zinn by the stage before the performance of “Marx in Soho,” begins. It is very dark, and Zinn is difficult to see. People prepare onstage.

2:13Copy video clip URL Cut to footage of the audience chatting before the show.

3:00Copy video clip URL Raw footage of the play begins. The character of Karl Marx comes onstage and begins a monologue directly to the audience. He says that he has comeback from the dead to clear his name, and then speaks about some of the work he did, giving a brief history of his life. He repeatedly says, “I am not a Marxist.” He speaks about being a “radical writer.”

17:00Copy video clip URL He talks about his work process in his apartment, recounting that his wife Jenny transcribed all of his work for him. He speaks about his relationship with Friedrich Engels. He speaks about their economic situation and their children, giving specific anecdotes about one of his daughters. He talks about being afflicted with boils. He goes into more depth about his relationship with his wife and her help in making his books accessible to the public.

45:35Copy video clip URL He speaks about the misinterpretation of communism, and then anecdotes about some of the people he worked with. He speaks about the government and activist movements in Paris. He talks about being a revolutionary and critiques capitalism. 

1:13:19Copy video clip URL Performance ends. Applause. Zinn comes onstage and speaks to the audience, but camera does not pick up his words. Dark footage of the audience walking out and talking. Zinn speaks to some audience members.

1:20:47Copy video clip URL Tape ends.