KENREX will play at The Other Palace over Christmas 2025 following sold-out runs at Sheffield Theatres and Southwark Playhouse earlier this year.
Co-written by Jack Holden (Olivier-nominated Cruise, Line of Beauty, Almeida) and Ed Stambollouian (Animal Farm, Royal & Derngate; Night School, Harold Pinter Theatre) who also directs, KENREX is a true crime thriller set to a foot-stomping live Americana soundtrack by award-winning composer and musician John Patrick Elliott.
July 10th, 1981, Missouri. Smalltown bully, Ken Rex McElroy rules Skidmore with an iron fist. His ten year reign of terror has involved theft, intimidation, assault, abduction and attempted murder — but, thanks to his slippery defence attorney and the rusty cogs of the American justice system, Ken has never spent a night behind bars.
But, when Ken shoots pillar of the community, greengrocer Bo Bowenkamp and leaves him for dead, the good folk of Skidmore decide that enough is enough. If the courts won’t bring Ken to heel, they will.
KENREX is the unbelievable true story of a community taking back control: a True Crime thriller with a high-octane live Americana soundtrack.
Jack Holden (Marriage, BBC; War Horse, National Theatre) performs the one-person show, darting between characters in a high-octane blend of vocals, sound effects and song. He is accompanied on stage by John Patrick Elliott (recent album includes My Role in the Show), and directed by co-writer Ed Stambollouian (Animal Farm, Royal & Derngate; Night School, Harold Pinter Theatre).
An album, KENREX Music from the Play by John Patrick Elliott via Carbon Moon Records is now available to stream. The album brings together Elliott’s songs and instrumental compositions that feature in the play, as well as additional bonus tracks from the development of the piece. Listen to the album here.
The full creative team includes co-writers Jack Holden and Ed Stambollouian, original music writer and performed by John Patrick Elliott, direction by Ed Stambollouian, design by Anisha Fields; lighting and video design by Joshua Pharo; sound design by Giles Thomas, movement direction by Sarah Golding and production management by James Anderton.
KENREX plays at The Other Palace 3rd December 2025 – 1st February 2026
Wednesday – Sunday 7.30pm evening shows, 2.30pm matinees on Thursdays and Saturdays and 3:30pm matinees on Sundays.
Age guidance: 12+
Running Time: 2 hours and 10 minutes (including a 15 minute interval)
Who is Jack Holden?
Jack trained as an actor at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and has participated in the Royal Court Young Writers Programme and the Channel 4 Screenwriting Course. He is currently on attachment at the National Theatre Studio.
His debut play Cruise—a kaleidoscopic, musical odyssey through Soho and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s—premiered at the Duchess Theatre in Summer 2021 to widespread critical acclaim, and was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best New Play 2022. Its second soldout run took place at the Apollo Theatre in August 2022, its regional premiere took place at HOME Manchester in August 2023, and it received its first international production in Johannesburg. Cruise premiered in Australia in February 2025, and plays in Mexico later this year. A feature film of Cruise is currently in development.
He is under commission to the Almeida Theatre, for whom he is adapting Alan Hollinghurst’s Booker Prize-winning novel The Line of Beauty, due to be staged in Autumn 2025.
Jack is also developing screen projects with Working Title, Independent Entertainment, World Productions, MMXX, Turning Point, Green Acre, and Michael Grandage Company. He has taken part in development writers rooms for Joi Productions and Genial.
As an actor, Jack was most recently seen in John Morton’s Ten Percent (Amazon) and Stefan Golaszewski’s Marriage (BBC One). Jack has also starred in British independent films, in television drama for ITV, Channel 4 and Starz, and on stage at the National Theatre, the RSC, the Almeida, many regional theatres, and multiple times in the West End.
In January 2025, Jack made his debut as writer-director with his short film Safari, produced by My Accomplice. Together, they are developing Jack’s debut writer-director feature film, Man Made.
