“The Time of Our Lies,” a play about the life and times of historian Howard Zinn written by playwright Bianca Bagatourian, will play at the Gilded Balloon, one of Edinburgh’s top venues, during the entire Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland this August. Howard Zinn, author of the best-selling and influential, “A People’s History of the United States,” was a local Bostonian and wrote extensively about the civil rights and anti-war movements and labor history of the United States before he passed away in 2010. His memoir, “You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train,” was also the title of a 2004 documentary about Zinn’s life and work.
The play, “The Time of Our Lies,” unravels through Zinn’s personal story as a young bombardier and goes on to depict how his life was shaped from there as well as examining the stories of other soldiers and the horrors of war. It speaks to Zinn’s message about how more peaceful solutions can be sought in these turbulent times.
“A wonderfully imaginative play that uses my father’s words as the unifying thread. Songs, nursery rhymes and tapped-out rhythms add a playful lightness and humanness that illuminate the horrors of war,” commented Myla Kabat-Zinn, Howard’s daughter.
“Having directed Howard before, I share his desire to connect with our ancestry and dig deep into history,” said director Josh Chambers from New York who has worked with Zinn previously on other projects.