Luka Rocco Magnotta: Performance Festival

Nina Arsenault Dept: The eclectic event, which bills itself as the largest juried festival in Canada, began Thursday and runs until Aug. 19. Several performances on its 2012 schedule are not for the faint of heart, including an endurance piece by Luka Rocco Magnotta s candid ex-lover Nina Arsenault and an unstageable play by Alice Tuan that even the writer expects will drive viewers from their seats, according to CBC. "I think that art has value when it s actually asking complicated questions. So polite dinner conversation is for polite dinner conversation. I think when you come to the theatre, you re here because you're looking for someone to ask questions that are unpopular or to explore avenues of humanity that are harder places to go." SummerWorks may have temporarily lost its federal funding over a play about homegrown terrorism but if its new lineup is any indication, the Toronto theatre and performance festival has not shied away from freshly controversial content this year. "The whole mandate of the festival is to program provocative work; it s challenging, contemporary systems of thinking, artistic producer Michael Rubenfeld told News, adding that organizers were not tempted to shy away from provocative plays after last year s cut. 'I think when you come to the theatre, you re here because you're looking for someone to ask questions that are unpopular or to explore avenues of humanity that are harder places to go' Michael Rubenfeld (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.