On Friday the United Nations concluded the creation of the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty in over 20 years, and the first

In 1926, W.E.B. Du Bois said “The Plays of a real Negro theatre must be…About us…By us…For us…Near us.” 

This is the philosophy that is behind the 5th Annual Columbus Black Theatre Festival (CBTF).  The CBTF event is organized to support, encourage and recognize Black Theatre playwrights who tell the stories of being Black, living Black, working Black, raising Black, dying Black and loving Black people.

The CBTF is an opportunity to celebrate the production of plays about the Black experience written by new and seasoned playwrights.

When asked “what is the most important aspect of having a Black Theatre Festival to you?” returning playwright, Charlay Marie (The Bet), states “With Black on Black crime, police brutality and all other aspects of violence at an all-time high, Columbus, Ohio needs a comic relief in the form of entertainment and enlightenment. Theater gives playwrights a chance to fix what’s wrong in the community by tackling tough subjects and introducing our audience to a better way of thinking. Black theatre brings the community together to celebrate our differences, understand our strengths, and grow as a unit.”

Eric Blau and Mort Shuman’s 1968 Off-Broadway hit Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is now alive and kicking in L.A. at the Odyssey Theatre. The current show consists of four gifted singers/ dancers/actors -Miyuki Miyagi, Susan Kohler, Marc Francoeur and Michael Yapujian - performing on a bare set about two dozen numbers originally created by Belgian singer/songwriter par excellence, Jacques Brel. The quartet is backed by musicians playing bass, percussion, keyboard and guitar.

Brel composed the music and wrote the lyrics for his chansons, most of which he also performed live in cafes, cabarets, concert halls, on albums, films and TV, although other top talents also covered his oeuvre - Ray Charles, Judy Collins, John Denver, Nina Simone, David Bowie, Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Leonard Cohen and Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. Chanson is a lyric driven type of French song that has its origins in the Middle Ages, although the 1929 Brussels-born Brel gave this musical genre his own unique twist.

Last Thursday the U.S. House Appropriations Committee unanimously passed an amendment that would — if passed by the full Congress — repeal, after an 8-month delay, the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed by Congress just after September 11, 2001, and used as a justification for wars ever since.

"Without music, life would be a mistake."--Friedrich Nietzsche

Would the occasionally fantastically misunderstood German philosopher have understood the massive appeal of super-energetic sing-along songs of teen-angst? Or a free festival's fear of the riot potential of a band playing N.W.A.'s "Fuck the Police" on a Saturday night?

Yes, because he understood power.

Consider what went down the last full week in June here in our little nest-egg of an American dream town.

21 Pilots, two twenty-something Columbus musicians who were America's biggest breakout act in 2016, sold out two arenas and an outdoor amphitheater, plus the Newport and a small basement club the last full week of June. That's about 45,000 people, from near and far coming to see a two-man band--a drummer and a front man who played ukelele or bass part of the time.

"That's power, Oskar," as Amon Goeth, SS commandant, said in 'Schindler's List.' "That's power."

Perhaps we can say music has the power of life and maybe the power of death and destruction. Again, consider the latter at of all places, ComFest on its Saturday night.