First produced in 1998, Cherry Docs takes on white supremacy in a pre-internet age. But nothing about the play feels dated, says actor Kenton Klassen.
“It’s amazing how relevant is today. There’s a line where my character tells the court, ‘Soon there won’t even be skins anymore. They’ll get a new uniform. Maybe a nice corporate suit and some brogues.’ And I read that and I thought, Wow. With Richard Spencer , the alt-right, and this whole white nationalist thing going on right now, this speaks to what’s going on today with unbelievable clarity.”
“He thought about Jon and I performing it and handed us the script. It’s something Ron saw 20 years ago, and it’s been on his mind ever since.”“It made a bit of a splash,” said Pi Theatre artistic director Richard Wolfe, who is directing Cherry Docs for Cave Canem. In researching his role, Klassen talked to a man who had led a chapter of an international neo-Nazi organization in Toronto. The former skinhead told Klassen about having his life saved by a Jewish doctor after being involved in a fight, and about working with an Ethiopian man, and how those experiences changed his beliefs.