'Kenrex' Off-Broadway review — minimalist true-crime story contains multitudes

Read our review of Kenrex off Broadway, a true-crime solo show co-created by 2026 Olivier Award-winning performer Jack Holden and nominated director Ed Stambollouian.

Summary

• Kenrex is a solo show about real-life Missouri criminal Ken Rex McElroy and his community's unsolved act of vigilante justice

A high school freshman girl steps onto an elevated platform to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Skidmore, Missouri's annual Punkin Show. Though played, like all the other characters in the new play Kenrex, by 36-year-old Jack Holden, his baby face and light voice telegraph the bright young 14-year-old clearly. Eventually, in a masterful bit of lighting design, Holden comes down to the stage while his shadow carries on the song, and a telltale tilt of the actor's shoulders transforms him into Ken Rex McElroy. Of course we knew Ken would come to the Punkin Show despite his lawyer's insistence he stay away. That doesn't make it any less chilling as the gruff-voiced, imposing grown man all but materializes from the shadows, looking up at the unseen but no less vivid Trena McCloud like a predator homing in on its prey.

This scene is when Holden and director Ed Stambollouian's play really hits its stride as it starts to show and not tell. The previous 30 minutes are exposition-heavy, introducing us to an array of Skidmore locals and the general vibe of middle America, the latter less necessary for American audiences than the British ones for whom Kenrex was first performed. But even then, and especially afterward, it's gripping to watch Holden seamlessly bounce between dozens of distinct voices, postures, and mannerisms.

Besides being an impressive act of stamina, the character-hopping is also a clever storytelling device that achieves two seemingly contradictory things at once. Kenrex is based on a true story of a criminal who so greatly terrorized his community — and managed to escape conviction over 20 times thanks to Richard McFadin, a kind of rural Billy Flynn — that a mob of Skidmore residents finally cornered McElroy in his truck, shot him down, and kept mum on who actually made the fatal hit. By condensing the whole community into a single performer, Holden and Stambollouian heighten both this sense of slippery anonymity and the impact of each individual character on the collective. The townspeople are quick to make sacrifices in Kenrex: McCloud, whose shotgun marriage to McElroy is accepted in the hopes it would "keep him quiet"; the various targets of a violent rampage he goes on when let out on bail, in a prosecutor's hopes it'll get him behind bars in the long run; and finally, McElroy himself, for the supposed greater good. But we, the audience, can't let any character go that easily when the shadows of their faces and mannerisms are still contained within Holden.

We also never forget that we're watching a piece of entertainment, due as much to Holden's theatricality as to Stambollouian's evocative stage pictures, top-flight lighting and sound by Joshua Pharo and Giles Thomas, and the presence of one other person on stage: John Patrick Elliott, performing his original Americana score that underscores some of the show's most dynamic scenes. But Kenrex doesn't sensationalize or make light of the events it retells for entertainment's sake. More than anything, it inspires a deep sense of dread. It's like watching a car crash happen in front of you — it's so awful you can't look away, and you also fear you could have been involved. When McCloud closes out the show, taking the stage the same way she did when she sang the national anthem, we might want to look away and stop listening as she indicts the Skidmore townspeople for vicious wrongdoing of their own. Will we?

Kenrex summary

Throughout the mid-20th century, Ken Rex McElroy terrorized his hometown of Skidmore, Missouri, racking up 21 indictments for all kinds of heinous crimes but escaping conviction each time. Finally, in 1981, the locals decided to take matters into their own hands, and no one has been charged with McElroy's sudden death to this day. In Kenrex, this story unfolds as David Baird, a prosecuting attorney for Missouri's Nodaway County, retells it for the record after McElroy's death.

Kenrex is co-created by its director, Ed Stambollouian; performer Jack Holden, who won an Olivier Award for playing the show's 35 characters in London; and its composer, John Patrick Elliott, who also performs his score on stage.

What to expect at Kenrex

Brace yourself for Elliott's first guitar riff. With its workmanlike set and assortment of instruments in a corner, Kenrex has the look and vibe of a garage-band session, but the volume level of a stadium rock concert. Earbuds might serve you well for the show's 2-hour, 15-minute runtime (including an intermission).

The most impactful aural moments, though, are the quieter ones from which whispers arise. In his top-notch, 360-degree sound design, Giles Thomas routinely employs recorded voices to stand in for unseen townspeople, responding and reacting to Holden's characters from various sides of the theatre. You'd be forgiven if you thought those outcries were coming from your fellow audience members at first — I and my neighbors sure did. It's but one way Kenrex involves us in the story and invites us to ask what we'd do in the Skidmore townspeople's shoes.

What audiences are saying about Kenrex

On forums like the Mezzanine app and Reddit, audiences have delivered a largely positive verdict on Kenrex during early Off-Broadway performances. While some had mixed responses to the length and story, there's near-unanimous praise for Holden's intensely physical performance and Elliott's music.

• "Masterclass of a production from every angle. I'm always somewhat skeptical of those productions where one person plays 30 characters, but this is the first time it's felt essential. Jack Holden is leaving it all on the floor - his Ken Rex sub-performance has such a vile and offputting presence that by itself it would be one of the performances of the year. Lighting and sound are as good as it gets. The original music composed and performed by John Patrick Elliott fucking ROCKS and is equally essential to the success of the show as Holden's performance." - Mezzanine user Derek Kahle
• "I didn't have quite the 'this is the best I've ever seen' reaction of many, but Jack Holden's performance is truly incredible [...] As a fan of true crime, I enjoyed it." - Mezzanine user Trevor Weaver
• "This isn’t a show about rubbernecking a tragedy— it’s an examination on how legal justice systematically failed an entire town, what exactly pushed them to retaliatory violence, and questions how things might’ve gone differently." - Reddit user u/el3phantbird
• "American audiences will recognize that it gets America wrong. Every aspect of this feels English: the length (the first half hour alone needs significant trimming), the heavy use of smoke machines [...] and above all, the moral queasiness which limits Kenrex from having an overarching point." - Mezzanine user B A
• "This was really freaking good. Especially in the second act. [...] As someone from Missouri, the stereotypical portrayal of my state left me a little upset. But I do love any excuse to hear Oh Shenandoah, which reminds me of home." - Mezzanine user Jeffrey Rubel
• "I took my bf who has convinced himself one person shows are usually boring and he was blown away too. I went in cold knowing only it had London buzz and Jack Holden won the Olivier. People throw around the term “must see” and I’m usually disappointed, that is not the case here. It really is phenomenal!!" - Reddit user u/Few-Importance6635

Who should see Kenrex

• If you've been interested by other accounts of McElroy's story — like the 1991 TV movie In Broad Daylight, the documentary series No One Saw a Thing, or segments on Buzzfeed Unsolved or Drunk History — you might want to see Kenrex's take.
• Fans of true crime in general will feel at home here; the creators have said the show's topic, style, and design are inspired, in various ways, by true crime podcasts.
• If you liked recent solo performances like Andrew Scott's Vanya at the Lortel last year, Sarah Snook's The Picture of Dorian Gray on Broadway, or Sean Hayes's The Unknown off Broadway earlier this spring — all of which featured those celebs playing numerous roles — get ready to discover your new favorite shapeshifter in Holden.
• Fans of last season's musical Dead Outlaw will find some familiar hallmarks to enjoy here: a lurid true story of middle America brought to life with a twangy, folksy score.

Learn more about Kenrex off Broadway

With stunning design and a phenomenal solo performance by Holden, Kenrex expertly toes delicate balances between entertainment and tragedy, and community and individual. In line with the contentious, many-sided true story it tells, this minimalist production contains multitudes.

Learn more and get Kenrex tickets on New York Theatre Guide. Kenrex is at the Lucille Lortel Theatre through June 27.

Photo credit: Kenrex off Broadway. (Photos by Matthew Murphy)