Thurs. Feb. 15

 Valentine's Day is over; now it's time to get back to real life. Sort of. Spend the day following V-Day with Karl Marx, or least Karl Marx as envisioned by left-wing historian and, yes, longtime JSInk pal, Howard Zinn. (We have the distinct privilege of introducing Zinn to kindred spirit/lefty rocker Billy Bragg some years ago at a Tufts University concert. As the time, Bragg was reading Zinn's "A People's History of the United States," a seminal text that starts with the invasion of the continent that became America. Other people of note have dug the book: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Eddie Vedder and Red Sox g.m. Theo Epstein.) Zinn wrote "Marx in Soho" about six ago. Trigger? "I think it was the disnitegration of the Soviet Union and the resultng talk of how Marxism is dead and capitalism has triumphed," says Zinn. I thought this needs to be dealt with."

The one-man play has toured the world. Bob Weick, who plays Marx at Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway, Thursday Feb. 15, has done it for three years.
"Marx lived the latter part of his life in the Soho district of  London," says Zinn, "but I have him being returned by the powers that be, to Soho New York by some bureaucratic error. This gives him an opportunity to comment on what he sees around him in capitalist America today. He wanted to come back because he's been so maligned and the Soviet Union was considered to be his baby, and it wasn't and never was. He wants to straighten people out on the matter. He wants to tell people what the difference is between the Soviet Union and Marxism and show that his ideas are still revelvant regarding his critique of contemporary capitalism."

"Marx did not contemplate a dictatorship by one," continues Zinn. "He did contemplate a dictatorship of the proletariat, the majority of the people. The objective of socialism and communism was not a state controlled bureaucracy, but actually indidvidual freedom. The Soviet Union was very far from what he envisioned."Has the play has been updated over time? "A little bit," says Zinn. "Bob Weick is one of several people who've performed it many times. Several times, he's approached me about updating this and that point. We have updated a couple times." But, Zinn notes, not much has changed - certainly not gotten better for the less-wealthy - in the past seven years.

"The concentration of wealth in the upper one percent has gotten worse," he says. "Marx sees homeless people in the streets, contrasts of wealth and poverty depending upon what part of the city he's walking through. He reads the newspaper and sees wars taking place and hears that capitalism has triumphed and asks 'Over whom?' He's commenting on the economic system, the culture, people watching so much television. He's annoyed (the powers that be) several times; he gets too wrought up." The play, though serious at its heart, is not a lecture. "There's humor in the play," Zinn says. "Early on Marx says, 'They say I'm dead. Well, I, on the other hand, say I'm not. That's dialectics for you." The 70-minute play starts at 7 p.m., with tickets costing $25. Zinn will conduct a Q and A session following it.

255 Elm St., Somerville, 617-591-1616 jtoffbroadway.com