KENREX ★★★★ The Other Palace | Dec 3, 2025 - Feb 1, 2026


Recounting true crime has long been a popular form of entertainment. The act of regaling audiences with tales of criminal horror that both terrify and titillate them arguably reached a peak with the Penny Dreadfuls of the nineteenth century, yet it remains a mainstay of contemporary television. KENREX, a dramatisation of the story of Kenneth Rex McElroy, who terrorised the small Missouri town of Skidmore for nearly two decades, stands as a masterful example of this enduring tradition. With the collusion of his lawyer, McElroy was able to intimidate and brutalise the town’s residents until July 10, 1981, when a long-deferred reckoning finally arrived. Jack Holden and Ed Stambollouian have crafted the material for the stage with remarkable skill, and Holden’s performance is nothing short of astonishing. He fully inhabits the many figures ensnared by these grim events, sustaining a breathtaking level of energy as he moves across the stage and transforms into characters as varied as the town preacher, the female bartender, the district attorney, Trena McElroy, and her husband the feared Ken Rex himself. It is a virtuoso display of personification, populating the stage with a vivid community brought to life by a single performer. Working with minimal props and supported by John Patrick Elliott’s powerful music and evocative vocals, Holden vividly reconstructs the texture of daily life under Ken Rex’s reign of terror. Indeed, the main takeaway from this show is the strength of this extraordinary performance. Because true crime drama is usually a straightforward transcription of reality for entertainment, it often lacks much thematic depth. In fact, the failure of American institutions and the lack of justice in this appalling sequence of events are not deeply explored in KENREX. On the other hand, these events probably no longer shock or intrigue as they once did, having become a fairly familiar feature of the daily news.

Rated: ★★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Pamela Raith

When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: 12 Palace St, London SW1E 5JA, UK

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