Red Bus Londinium Life

Kenrex at the Southwark Playhouse is part concert, part true crime podcast and part play. It is largely a one-man-show (Jack Holden), enhanced by on stage music (Jack Patrick Elliott) and sound recordings (Giles Thomas). Written by Holden and director Ed Stambollouian and subtitled “A True Crime Thriller”, it is a riveting, adventurous, genre-bending tour de force.

In the small town of Skidmore, Missouri, Ken Rex McElroy has been terrorising the community for ten years. Expelled from school, he has gone on to commit crimes including assault, child molestation, statutory rape, arson, animal cruelty, hog and cattle rustling, and burglary. With his “magic weapon” (a lawyer said to have mafia links) he consistently evades justice allowing him to further intimidate the Skidmore townsfolk.

Jack Holden portrays Ken Rex and ten other Skidmore characters with dexterity with Thomas’ sound and Elliot’s music giving us a town deeply rooted in Missouri and rich with conversation and panic. Voices dot around the auditorium giving us the sense, at times, that we too are participants and multiple microphones and a tape recording permits the introduction of out-of-town characters. 

The story is shocking but, incredibly, actually somewhat sanitised from McElroy’s real life where he groomed Trena (his wife in this show) at the age of twelve – not fourteen – when he was already living with two women and had already fathered nine children. My one disappointment with the show is that it gave the impression at times that Trena was a willing participant whereas the truth is less clear cut (she even tried to run away with one of McElroy’s other wives at one point). This was perhaps done to streamline the story but did effectively silence part of her voice.

Joshua Pharo’s lighting is fundamental with headlights appearing terrifyingly from the dark to represent Ken Rex tormenting his accusers with his truck. Transitions are also supported by light changes, aiding the audience to recognise Holden’s character and location.

Holden’s last show, Cruise, was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best New Play. With Kenrex, he has something else very special which will leave you pondering questions about justice, self defence, and vigilantism.