The show must go on: despite budget cuts, SummerWorks is back, for now

The SummerWorks Festival kicks off today. This indie theatre fest has been around since ’91, and has grown from its fringe-like beginnings to the respectable breeding ground for local artists it’s known for today (over 20 of this year’s Dora nominations came from past SummerWorks productions). But with such great responsibility also comes great controversy. We caught up with the fest’s artistic director, Michael Rubenfeld, to chat about theatre and the festival’s future.

In your opinion, what makes good theatre?
Anything that challenges the status quo. Good theatre is wide-reaching. Even popular musicals can be good theatre. It’s anything that challenges and provokes and connects emotionally with the audience.

As a juried festival, is there anything in particular that stands out when it comes to the selection process?
The jury is of experienced professionals. Our personal mandate is that all art should be asking something of the world we live in. The shows selected usually aim to be representative of the city we live in, so there’s a tendency towards cultural diversity.

What’s most exciting about SummerWorks?
The risks people are taking with their work. Artists of all calibers are free to take artistic risks at a level that the country doesn’t see. Some risks fail, but many succeed. You won’t see a higher degree of artistry in this country. It’s the number one place for artists to develop new performance in the country. SummerWorks is the breeding ground of theatrical ecology in Canada.

Has the festival recouped the loss from the Heritage Canada funding?
Most of it, for this year. It was a multi-year grant: $150,000 over three years. So only one third of it has been recouped. The long-term sustainability of the festival is still in question.

Without public funding, what does the future of Toronto theatre look like?
It will be survival of the fittest. It forces all theatre companies to become capitalists. The focus will be on who knows how to fundraise the best instead of on the quality of the work.

SummerWorks runs August 4-14.

The above artwork is being used as a promotional image for Morning Glory, one of the festival’s plays. The artist is Karin Bolette Sonne.

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