Annabel Soutar's documentary play re-examines the death of Fredy Villanueva

In 2008, protests erupted in Montreal following the death of 18-year-old Fredy Villanueva. He was shot to death by police after a confrontation over an illegal dice game.

The case led to changes in the way Montreal police do their jobs. And now a new documentary-style stage play called Fredy examines the shooting, and the social tensions his death exposed.

"What happened on that day was not just the result of that one unique intervention but reflected deep tensions between police and young minority groups in the neighbourhood," says Annabel Soutar, Fredy's writer, told Shad on q.

She discussed taking a journalistic approach to producing a theatre production, and how to navigate the tensions behind portraying every possible side to a deeply divisive and controversial case.

Specifically, she came across the difficulty of getting both the Villanueva family and Montreal police to talk about the case, with each knowing the other side was being consulted.

Fredy is playing now at Montreal's Porte Parole theatre.

WEB EXTRA: Soutar speaks with the Montreal Gazette about the challenges involved in producing Fredy, including the challenges involved in talking to both the Villanueva family and the Montreal police.