''Homegrown'' is a play about a friendship between a terrorist suspect and a writer.
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It is based on the actual friendship that developed between Toronto writer Catherine Frid and
Shareef Abdelhaleem, who was arrested with 17 other Muslims from the
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...
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According to theatre critic
Richard Ouzounian
Richard Ouzounian (born March 8, 1950) is a Canadian journalist and theatre artist. He was the chief theatre critic for the ''Toronto Star'' and the Canadian theatre correspondent for ''Variety''.
Early life, family and education
Ouzounian was b ...
the
Prime Minister's Office warned the public that the play presented a sympathetic portrayal of a terrorist—before the play had been performed.
[
David Akin, an ]Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
based political reporter for the ''Toronto Sun
The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices are located at Pos ...
'', described the play as being important enough to justify traveling from Ottawa to Toronto for the play's premiere.[
The '']Washington Times
''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout Washington, D. ...
'' republished one of Akin's articles on the play.[
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According to Michael Wheeler, a prominent Canadian playwright, Akin "broke ranks" with the rest of the Parliamentary press gallery when he asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...
about ''Homegrown'' prior to its opening night.[
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According to Wheeler all reporters had agreed upon a question about a prominent issue of the day which they would all ask if they were called upon for a question from the Prime Minister.
Some local writers and politicians were critical of the play, for what they described as its sympathetic portrayal of a "terrorist".[
Critics asserted that Frid should not have received government arts council funding to help support her writing the play. Frid defended her portrayal on the grounds that the case against Shareef was more complicated than was generally understood. James Moore, the Heritage Minister cancelled funding for Summerworks in June 2011.][
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Reporters widely assumed that the cancellation of support for SummerWorks was a politically motivated reaction to Frid's play.[
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In response theatres across the country scheduled readings of the play.[
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References
{{Reflist
Canadian plays
2010 plays