My name is Maarika Freund.
First and foremost I’m a mom. Second I’m an award winning writer & producer who works towards making what feels inaccessible accessible.

This is my biography.

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After silently watching her collect her thoughts for an uncomfortable amount of time, my last therapist said to me:

“An entire writers room couldn’t come up with your life.”

So I took that as my cue and finally launched peaches: the podcast!, and then peaches: the play!, which was awarded runner-up for “BEST OF THE FEST” during its world premiere at the 2023 Vancouver Fringe Festival.

Regardless of that the log line to my thirty-eight rotations around the sun, this Finnish-Canadian still loves comedy. In fact, I credit my struggles with why I’m obsessed with finding light & humour within the darkest of situations. But really, I’m just doing my best to find ways to talk about tough, real life issues in a way that is relatable and digestible because I want genuine healing - the most painful, unsexy thing in the whole entire world - to finally feel safe and desirable.

Currently, my home base is in Tel Aviv, where I live with my daughter and Israeli-Canadian husband. When I’m not working on the podcast or the play, I’m running soft focuschoreography workshops, or working towards obtaining my MFA in Documentary Cinema at Tel Aviv University, or singing along to vintage Sesame Street episodes.

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Maarika, who has been praised for her ability to create “comedic social critique[s]” by The Stir Vancouver, and who was described by NOW! Magazine as “ultimately formidable”, is an award winning actor, writer, & producer with a Specialist’s Degree in Theatre from the University of Toronto.

She co-wrote, co-produced, and co-starred in the web series “Millie & Midge” alongside Alaine Hutton, has had her work featured at the L.A. Comedy Festival, and finished a residency at Artscape Daniels in Toronto, Ontario during their 2020/2021 Launchpad bursary program to incubate PEACHES: THE PODCAST and a television pilot that is currently in development. 

Maarika was a founding member of My Voice, My Choice, an initiative that successfully changed section 486.4 of the Canadian Criminal Code on October 26th, 2023 when Bill S-12 received Royal Assent. This bill changed the law pertaining to publication bans, giving victims of sexual assault the the freedom to tell their own stories after coming forward. Yes, it does sound insane to have to had change the law in and around this, but Canada was actually placing gag orders on women who came forward since the 1980’s. You can learn more about this initiative in CHAPTER ONE: THE HANDBOOK of PEACHES: THE PODCAST.

Maarika is also a professionally trained dancer (BATD), has been critically acclaimed for her theatre choreography on both sides of the equator, and is the founder of soft focus; choreography workshops designed to be accessible for all levels and all bodies.