Kenrex
Review by Sam
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐️
Jack Holden’s highly anticipated follow up to his critically acclaimed debut play (Cruise), comes in the form of a true crime thriller.
Throughout his ten year reign of terror as the bully of Skidmore, Ken Rex McElroy has never been behind bars despite committing theft, assault and attempted murder to name but a few. When Ken shoots and leaves a man for dead, Skidmore decides that if the courts won’t bring Ken to justice, they will. This chilling story comes to the stage in an electrifying production which is simply bursting with creativity.
To say this production is a masterpiece would be doing it an injustice, as it manages to be both intimate yet epic in scale, and wholly engrossing from its first beat. It consistently maintains a cinematic flair, with a hauntingly powerful opening title sequence, Tarentino-esque chapter numbers, and much more, all brought to life by a pulsating live score from composer and on-stage musician, John-Patrick Elliott.
Elliott’s score is gorgeously rich and utterly absorbing, working in tandem with Giles Thomas’ sound design to build an immersive soundscape with precision. Elevating an already layered cinematic soundscape is bold lighting design from Joshua Pharo who enhances haunting moments of the story to have maximum impact.
At the centre is Holden, giving a mesmerisingly layered and detailed performance that has to be seen to be believed. He showcases highly nuanced character work to distinctly embody a varying multitude of Skidmore’s residence in what may well be the performance of the year. Through both his physical acting and incredible mic work, Holden seamlessly transitions between these characters in a spellbinding and engrossing way that demonstrate his versatility as an actor.
Kenrex is quite simply a masterpiece of theatre which fires on all cylinders and never fails to miss. It is an astonishing showcase of the immense creativity and pure theatrical genius of Jack Holden and Ed Stambollouian. After an instant standing ovation, it’s safe to say that this mesmerising piece of theatre has shot its way to the top of my list for best plays of the year.