Catherine Frid
From WikiAlpha
Catherine Frid is a Canadian lawyer and playwright.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Frid is notable for writing an autobiographical play, "Homegrown", chronicling eighteen months of visits she made to terrorism suspect Shareef Abdelhaleem.
Frid's writing career
Frid's other plays include: Dead cat bounce, buff, The Golden Door, The Tango Player, Guineapigging, Thistlepatch, Spend Your Kids Inheritance and What I Gave, I Have.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]
Homegrown: a true story
Frid's play Homegrown is subtitled, "a true story". Her ex-husband was a high school teacher, and he had taught Shareef Abdelhaleem, an individual arrested as part of the "Toronto 18", and the play is built upon the regular visits she paid to him while he was in jail waiting for his trial.[18] Abdelhaleem turned out to be one of individuals who was evenutally convicted.
Frid's play stirred controversy as it was described as a "sympathetic" portrayal of a terrorist, for which she received government funding.[3][19][20] Notably, members of the Prime Minister's Office weighed in on the play's merits, even before it had been released. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper fielded questions about the play.
The Toronto Sun alone published over close to a dozen articles on the play.[3][4][5][6][7][21]
In 2011, the Federal government withdrew its 2012 funding of the Summerworks arts festival, in what commentators regarded as punishment for showing Homegrown.[22][23] However funding was renewed for 2013. Michael Rubenfeld, the festival's artistic producer, insisted that Homegrown did not glorify terrorism.
References
- ↑ "PMO claims SummerWorks play “glorifies terrorism,” only Toronto Sun agrees". Toronto Life. 2010-08-10. Archived from the original on 2018-06-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20180629033300/https://torontolife.com/culture/pmo-claims-summerworks-play-glorifies-terrorism-only-toronto-sun-agrees/. Retrieved 2010-08-10.
- ↑ James Bradshaw (2010-08-05). "Festival head takes issue with PMO criticism of play". Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2017-03-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20170312155255/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/festival-head-takes-issue-with-pmo-criticism-of-play/article1663807/. Retrieved 2010-03-16. "The Prime Minister’s Office was misguided in condemning a new play about a convicted “Toronto 18” terrorist, says the head of the festival presenting it."
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Don Peat (2010-07-30). "Sympathy for the devil". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on 2010-08-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20100802011044/https://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/07/30/14883921.html. Retrieved 2023-07-23. "Homegrown’s playwright Catherine Frid says the play is a “sympathetic portrayal” of Abdelhaleem, not of a terrorist. “He wasn’t planning to blow up Bay and Front Street with a truck bomb,” Frid said. “People don’t know the whole story behind Shareef’s conviction, I’m not speaking for all the Toronto 18, I’m just focusing on the one person I met and whose case I followed and I’m telling that story.”"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 David Akin (2010-08-06). "At the theatre to see the charming terrorist". Toronto Sun. http://www.torontosun.com/blogs/thehill/2010/08/06/14944726.html. Retrieved 2010-08-10. "But if this play really is, as Frid and Summerworks advertise in their promotional material, about 'separating fact from hype in the face of the uncertainty, delays and secrecy in his case', then much more is needed from the playwright."
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 David Akin (2010-08-06). "Latest culture battle: One-act play about terrorism a target in Tories’ arts clash; will strategy win votes?". Toronto Sun. http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/david_akin/2010/08/04/14924996.html. Retrieved 2010-08-10. "A spokesman for Stephen Harper says the PMO is “extremely disappointed” federal tax dollars are being used by a Toronto theatre festival to stage a play which, in the playwright’s own words, offers up a “sympathetic portrayal” of a convicted terrorist."
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 David Akin (2010-08-03). "PMO frowns on terror play funding". Toronto Sun. http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/08/03/14914456.html. Retrieved 2010-08-10. "Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office says it is "extremely disappointed" federal funds went to a theatre festival that will stage a play this week that features, in the words of the playwright, a "sympathetic portrayal" of a convicted terrorist who plotted to blow up the heart of Toronto's financial district."
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Tom Godfrey (2010-08-05). "Audience raves for play about convicted terrorist". Toronto Sun. http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/08/05/14937006.html. "It was two thumbs up from theatre goers for the debut of a controversial play based on the Toronto 18 terror ring. About 150 people packed the Theatre Passe Muraille on Ryerson Ave., Thursday night to check out Homegrown, a 70-minute play based on one of the suspects."
- ↑ Richard Ouzounian (2010-08-06). "Homegrown: Two wrongs don’t make for a very good play". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/theatre/article/844640--homegrown-two-wrongs-don-t-make-for-a-very-good-play. Retrieved 2010-08-10. "Definitely not a play that supports or romanticizes terrorism, but one that raises some interesting questions about the government’s purchase of undercover “moles” to entrap and deliver so-called terrorists, often at prices well into the millions."
- ↑ "Beware the risk factors that could lead a senior to suicide". Barrie Today. https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/beware-the-risk-factors-that-could-lead-a-senior-to-suicide-1370153. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
- ↑ Paul Gallant (2011-04-20). "Catherine Frid: Creator of the controversial Toronto 18 play Homegrown takes on big pharma in Guineapigging". Eye magazine. Archived from the original on 2011-08-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20110813050423/http://www.eyeweekly.com/arts/theatre/article/114377. Retrieved 2018-06-28. "Written before Homegrown, Guineapigging is Frid’s first full-length play. She got the idea while travelling in South America, where she heard a Brit tell amusing anecdotes about how he earned money as a guinea pig in drug studies."
- ↑ Ryan West (2010-07-01). "Dead Cat Bounce: good story, unfortunate venue". Plank magazine. http://www.plankmagazine.com/review/dead-cat-bounce-good-story-unfortunate-venue. "Catherine Frid’s script had a good deal of potential, but every other line was lost to the roar of a passing truck or music pumping from neighbouring businesses."
- ↑ "10 questions: Catherine Frid". Theatre is territory. 2007-01-05. Archived from the original on 2011-08-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20110830191409/http://theatreisterritory.com/tag/catherine-frid/. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
- ↑ "Reading series: Golden Door". Praxis Theatre. 2006-11-29. http://praxistheatre.com/2006/11/. "Please join Praxis Theatre for the first in its series of original play readings. This month, we are pleased to present Catherine Frid’s Golden Door."
- ↑ "Dead Cat Bounce". Eye Weekly. 2010-07-11. http://www.eyeweekly.com/article/94775. "Catherine Frid’s script finds its true voice in Geza Kovacs as the tragi-comic vagrant who is both witness to their affair and the broken telephone through which they fail to communicate."
- ↑ "Backyard Theatre is back at McCrae House in Guelph this weekend". Guelph Mercury. 2019-07-03. https://www.guelphmercury.com/community-story/9484884-backyard-theatre-is-back-at-mccrae-house-in-guelph-this-weekend/. Retrieved 2019-07-08. "This original work by local playwright Catherine Frid is directed by Valerie Senyk, and features Bryndyn Boonstra, who will portray John McCrae among other characters."
- ↑ Jonathan Duncan (2019-07-04). "Two Guelph playwrights are at the Toronto Fringe Festival, and there's a bus to get you there and back: Both plays challenge social norms with music and comedy". Guelph Mercury. https://www.guelphmercury.com/community-story/9488455-two-guelph-playwrights-are-at-the-toronto-fringe-festival-and-there-s-a-bus-to-get-you-there-and-back/. Retrieved 2019-07-08. "Frid says the idea came from a running joke she had with her parents, who would always laugh and say ‘We’re off to spend your inheritance’ says Bailey."
- ↑ Barbara Latkowski (2019-07-16). "Guelph backyard play brings John McCrae's famous poem to life: Guelph playwright uses McCrae House backyard to present play about the writing of John McCrae's famous poem". Guelph Today. Archived from the original on 2020-11-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20201116092104/https://www.guelphtoday.com/rooted/guelph-backyard-play-brings-john-mccraes-famous-poem-to-life-1585079. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
- ↑ "Student Lwam Ghebrehariat to star in play based on the case of the "Toronto 18"". University of Toronto Faculty of Law. 2010-11-05. Archived from the original on 2023-01-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20230128145316/https://www.law.utoronto.ca/news/student-lwam-ghebrehariat-star-in-play-based-case-toronto-18. "The play, written by lawyer Catherine Frid, is about a Toronto lawyer/writer who meets a prisoner accused of being one of the Toronto 18 ‘homegrown terrorists’ in 2008."
- ↑ "When the PMO took a playwright to task for her "sympathetic portrayal" of a Toronto 18 terror convict, the likes of TD stood up for her artistic freedom". The Mark. 2010-08-20. Archived from the original on 2010-11-05. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.themarknews.com%2Farticles%2F2055-big-bad-corporations-to-the-rescue&date=2010-11-05. "One of the featured playwrights, Catherine Frid, had penned a play that sets forth a “sympathetic portrayal” (her words) of one of the Toronto 18 terror convicts. The catch? The festival, Summerworks, benefited from $35,000 in federal funding."
- ↑ James Bradshaw (2010-08-06). "Festival head takes issue with PMO criticism of play". Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2010-11-05. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fm.theglobeandmail.com%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Ffestival-head-takes-issue-with-pmo-criticism-of-play%2Farticle1663807%2F%3Fservice%3Dmobile&date=2010-11-05. "SummerWorks artistic producer Michael Rubenfeld shot back at PMO spokesman Andrew MacDougall, who was quoted in a Toronto newspaper this week as saying, “We are extremely disappointed that public money is being used to fund plays that glorify terrorism.""
- ↑ Erica Basnicki (2010-08-06). "9/11 victim's daughter slams terror play". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on 2010-11-05. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.torontosun.com%2Fnews%2Ftorontoandgta%2F2010%2F08%2F06%2F14939881.html&date=2010-11-05. "That Catherine Frid wants to stand up for the underdog is admirable. That she thinks Abdelhaleem is an underdog worth standing up for is appalling."
- ↑ Brendan Kennedy (2011-08-12). "Stage play takes you inside G20’s crammed jail". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2023-07-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20230723222422/https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/play-takes-sympathetic-look-at-toronto-18/article_c95893a7-29a5-572c-8f5d-60b309b3ee58.html. Retrieved 2023-07-23. "The Summerworks festival has courted controversy before, and even drawn criticism from the Conservative government, which suggested that the festival’s funding could be cut as a result. Last year it staged Catherine Frid’s play, “Homegrown,” which painted a sympathetic portrait of one of the Toronto 18 convicted terrorists."
- ↑ Bruce DeMara (2012-06-05). "SummerWorks has federal funding restored: A year after it blocked funding possibly due to a controversial play, the federal government has restored its grant to SummerWorks.". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2023-07-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20230723221006/https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/summerworks-has-federal-funding-restored/article_f5c9e4c9-abde-5087-956d-3a06d52d5440.html. Retrieved 2023-07-23. "'Whether or not it (Homegrown) warranted any controversy … I can say very firmly that it never glorified terrorism. It was not a glorification of terrorism,' he said."
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- Brendan Kennedy (2010-07-30). "Play takes sympathetic look at Toronto 18". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2010-11-05. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestar.com%2Fnews%2Fgta%2Farticle%2F842140--play-takes-sympathetic-look-at-toronto-18&date=2010-11-05. "I am extremely pro-Canadian,” she says. “I am an ambassador of Canada everywhere I go, but you know, we maintain the strength we have as Canadians by looking at some of the stuff we do and deciding whether it’s fair. That’s what this play is about; it’s about one person, but it’s also about what he has undergone under the guise of fighting terrorism, which may well be orchestrating it."
- "10 questions: Catherine Frid". Theatre is Territory. 2007-01-30. Archived from the original on 2010-11-05. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheatreisterritory.com%2Ftag%2Fcatherine-frid%2F&date=2010-11-05. "I always thought I was best suited to be a novelist so I could do lots of research and toil away, completely on my own. But plays are what came to me. I figure if I’m not willing to follow my instincts I might as well give up writing, go back to work and make some money." mirror
- Aurora Stewart (2010-08). "Review: Homegrown". Time and Space magazine. Archived from the original on 2010-11-05. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.timeandspacemagazine.com%2F&date=2010-11-05. "I could chastise Don Peat and the Toronto Sun for the great injustice they paid playwright Catherine Frid by condemning her play Homegrown before it even had a chance to open, but he’s a dingbat and the Sun is a dingbat paper that only dingbats read, and ultimately he was directly responsible for the show’s immense popularity and so far sold out run."
- "Catherine Frid: Playwright, law graduate". The Mark. Archived from the original on 2010-11-05. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.themarknews.com%2Fauthors%2F1192-catherine-frid&date=2010-11-05. "Catherine Frid’s recent plays include Homegrown (SummerWorks Festival), Dead Cat Bounce (Toronto Fringe, Unhinged Festival), Buff (New Ideas Festival), and a dramatic monologue, Over the Edge (Arts and Letters Club). The Tango Player opened the Inspirato Toronto 10-Minute Festival, and two other short plays, Fetish and Quest, were produced at Asphalt Jungle Shorts in Kitchener. The Mess received a reading at She Speaks for International Women’s Day. Publications include "Us and Them" in Thirtysomethings: Mother-Daughter Monologues, ICWP Press (2009) and "Community with Strangers" in Scenes from a Diverse World (forthcoming). Upcoming: GuineaPigging, a full-length dark comedy about human drug-testing subjects in Canada (Alumnae Theatre, 2011)."
- Catherine Frid (2010-09-23). "How Homegrown got spun". The Mark. Archived from the original on 2010-11-05. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.themarknews.com%2Farticles%2F2519-how-homegrown-got-spun&date=2010-11-05. "Homegrown is a play about Canada’s criminal justice system. Why was it portrayed as a glorification of terrorism?"
- "Homegrown a play worth missing: Editorial". Toronto Sun. 2010-08-10. Archived from the original on 2010-11-05. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcanadiankuffars.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F08%2F10%2Fwhy-is-canada-paying-to-indulge-catherine-frids-fetish-for-terrorists%2F&date=2010-11-05. Retrieved 2010-11-05. "This play has received a lot of attention as a result of coverage in this newspaper — and specifically the helping hand it received from taxpayers."
- Steve Fisher (2010-08-20). "How the Sun Put SummerWorks in the Hot Seat". Torontoist. Archived from the original on 2010-11-05. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftorontoist.com%2F2010%2F08%2Fstoking_the_fires_how_the_sun_put_summerworks_in_the_hot_seat.php&date=2010-11-05. Retrieved 2010-11-05. "Homegrown's creators intended to start a public discussion about a wide range of topics—Islamophobia, rendition, torture, fear-mongering, hysteria—topics that are often controversial and difficult to discuss in the current political climate. By sensationalizing the subject matter of the play, and using that as a basis for questioning the public funding SummerWorks receives, the Toronto Sun redirected that conversation, in a manner most disturbing to proponents of free speech and unfettered art."
- Steve Fisher (2010-08-20). "A Homegrown Controversy". Torontoist. Archived from the original on 2010-11-05. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftorontoist.com%2F2010%2F08%2Fhomegrown_summerworks.php&date=2010-11-05. "After seeing the play ourselves—something most of the pundits didn't do—Torontoist met with playwright Catherine Frid and director Beatriz Pizano to talk about the play and the unusual attention it's received."
