It feels like there’s something  I haven’t done in a while. Oh yes, it’s time once again to plug the local theater community.

If you don’t live in Fort Wayne, or just have no interest in theater, this may not be the post for you. Sorry! But please come back on Friday for yet another rambling post on the art of writing. Of course, you’re welcome to stick around if you wish.

This year’s all for One season starts with a play on the life of Martin Luther, called A Mighty Fortress. Now that may not seem very interesting to you, as his primary claim to fame was as a religious leader who caused great disruption in the Roman Catholic Church by publishing a tirade skeptical of many church practices of the time. Many people feel  that religious conflict is just bickering about whether you use candles or electric lights, or how much money you should give or to who. And in Luther’s case, they’re partly right.

But the ideas we espouse influences how we act and the culture we live in. Luther came at a time when the idea of unquestionable authority was in. The divine right of kings and the unfailing nature of the pope were ideas that everyone accepted, but few people bothered to ask if they were consistent with the other ideas that defined their culture.

Luther stood up and challenged the idea that there was any infallible man on Earth. Not only was this not a popular idea at the time, it technically meant directly challenging his boss, as Luther was a monk and monks worked for the church, and thus the pope.

However, Luther felt that the ideas that undergirded his faith didn’t allow for one man to dictate to others to the point where men could set right and wrong. His belief in even the most powerful men being subject to higher laws was, in many ways, the intellectual foundation of the Western republics and paved the way for the American government of checks and balances.

A Mighty Fortress is a look at Luther in one of his darker moments, when he was jailed for his ideas and before he had any idea how meaningful they would become. (Arguably, he never would as he died before they could fully play out.) afO veteran Jeff Salisbury takes the role of Luther in what’s looking to be a great show.

The play will run through the weekend of September 6th, 7th and 8th. Ticket information and show times can be found here.