6/23/26: KENREX
What: The Lucille Lortel Theatre hosts the true crime thriller by Jack Holden, Ed Stambollouian, and John Patrick Elliott, starring both Holden and Elliott, and directed by Stamboullouian. D.A. David Baird is questioned on the events leading up to the murder of Skidmore terror Kenrex McElroy. Holden plays all roles, including Baird, McElroy, McElroy's attorney Richard Gene McFadin, and the townsfolk of Skidmore, Missouri.
And? Truly excellent stagecraft all around. Holden and Stambollouian's writing is tight and tense, condensing the timeline of events somewhat and rarely letting the audience breathe. Holden's Olivier-winning performance is outstanding as well: thirty-five distinct characters with specific physicality and vocal timbres, among which he shifts so seamlessly that the tension never has a moment to break. His execution of the titular villain Kenrex is particularly terrifying: one shoulder always lifted in a predatory hunch, his hand only a twitch away from his holstered pistol (not seen, just verbally indicated). Stambollouian's vision manages an extraordinary feat: while utilizing one of my favorite theatrical tropes (letting us see how the sausage is made, rather than going for cinematic realism), he also shapes the physicality of the space and Holden's performance with such specific muscularity that you start to forget you're watching one man play an entire town, that this is all just a very visible illusion. But with the combination of John Patrick Elliott's onstage music and Giles Thomas's Olivier-winning sound design simmering beneath every moment, you can't help but feel the danger in the stillness of of Kenrex standing there with hooded eyes and a voice so low and graveled it feels like walking barefoot on an unpaved road at two in the morning. It's a grim story, a dark story, so it's good to know that going in: Kenrex McElroy terrorized his small town for years with theft, arson, sexual assault, and violence by blade and gun. But arming you with that bracer, I cannot recommend this show highly enough.
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| Jack Holden. Photo by Manuel Harlan. |
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