The grave of Karl Marx in Highgate Cemetery, North London, is marked by a bronze bust of the German political philosopher and economist atop a massive granite block on which is inscribed: "Workers of all lands unite."
Here in Tokyo, as global capitalism reels, theatergoers are about to be treated to an award-winning German dramatization of Marx's epic 1867-94 tome "Das Kapital" ("Capital"), whose seed was sown by the seminal 1849 pamphlet he wrote with Friedrich Engels, "The Communist Manifesto."
Delivering this timely staging is the cutting-edge Berlin-based Rimini Protokoll company, beloved of audiences at last year's Tokyo International Festival (TIF) for its searing exploration of the lives of model-train obsessives in "Mnemopark." This time, as TIF morphs into Festival/Tokyo, the troupe is back with its 2007 masterpiece, "Karl Marx: Capital, Volume I."