KENREX

Review by Celia Ipiotis

When the Lucille Lortel Theater darkened, a deafening chord split the air from the guitarist John Patrick Elliott standing in a corner of the stage. A large, 1980’s style reel-to-reel, analog audio recording machine was pushed center stage. It played back the voice of a female federal agent quizzing Baird about the events in 1981 that led to a mob killing in Skidmore, Missouri.

Outraged by the actions of the town terrorist Ken Rex McElroy, desperate townsfolk’s voices bounced throughout the theater   

For two hours, Jack Holden, the only actor on stage, played 34 characters. But in truth, it was a three-person play because the hard rock music performed by Elliott and the immersive sound design by Giles Thomas fabricated a 3-dimensional universe. In  flashbacks, the well meaning, idealistic county prosecutor David Baird, enters a community in pain.

A harrowing tale of a town’s tribulations and self-determination, KENREX was based on a true story written by Jack Holden and Ed Stambollouian. Patterned after  a true-crime podcast, the narrative questioned whether the darker impulses of humanity are ultimately beyond our comprehension.

For years, Ken Rex, portrayed by Holden to look like the poisonously hunched Richard III, shot neighbors, burned down houses and trashed cars because — he felt like it. Hopping back and forth from the present to the past, Holden fleshed out the characters who tolerated Ken Rex and the unscrupulous lawyer who kept Rex out of jail. 

Every character Holden inhabited possessed a distinct vocal architecture and a singularly tailored physicality. For Ken Rex, Holden groaned his words while the southern-styled lawyer got a slinky walk and mellifluous voice. 

Under Ed Stambollouian’s uninhibited direction, the story’s sinister shifts were heightened by Elliott’s electric score and a fearless performance from Holden. A gripping tale, KENREX proved the imagination can be far more potent that any lavish costume, set design or kaleidoscopic visuals. 

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Celia Ipiotis