Annabel Souter's Docu-Play FREDY Raises Questions of Ownership and Story

As reported by The Globe and Mail, following the Théâtre La Licorne's production of FREDY in Montreal this past spring, the playwright, Annabel Souter, is facing the question of how much the play should be adapted for future productions, due to criticisms from the family and supporters of Fredy Villanueva, the title character and basis for the play. Villanueva was a young Honduran refugee who was shot by Montreal police in 2008, and his family feels that the play in its current state is more sympathetic to the state and to police, than it is to Villanueva.

In the aforementioned production, Ricardo Lamour, the actor who played the judge on Villanueva's case took matters into his own hands, breaking character at the end of the play to deliver an open letter to the playwright, which revealed his objection to her methods of writing and treatment of Villanueva as a character.

Although Lamour has stated that he has no intentions of being involved with further productions after repeated attempts to reason with the playwright throughout the past production's rehearsal and performance period, Souter is purportedly considering changing the ending of the play to include Lamour's letter in an official capacity for future iterations of the play.

As debate continues over whether Souter's method of focusing on issues over particular people, the central question remains: Whose story is it?

For the full original article, click here.

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