Five questions with Jack Holden

In Kenrex, talented actor and writer Jack Holden is once again thrilling audiences with his ability to weave a theatrical tale.

Summary

• Jack Holden is starring in Kenrex
• The show began its journey at Sheffield Theatres before transfers to Southwark Playhouse and The Other Palace
• The play tells the true-crime tale of predatory criminal Ken Rex McElroy

Jack Holden and Ed Stambollouian's play Kenrex began its life in Sheffield before transfers to Southwark Playhouse and now The Other Palace. According to our five-star review, the true-crime tale is "electrifying, brutal and gripping work". Holden, the show's star, tells us more...

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Tell us about the world of your play Kenrex.
Kenrex is set in the American Midwestern town of Skidmore, during the late 1970s and 80s. It’s a backwater town where the cops don’t bother to go, but it’s not lawless; people sort out their differences man-to-man. It’s your classic small-town Western backdrop for a truly gripping true-crime tale.

It’s based on a true story from the 1980s - how did you research the tale?
When co-creator Ed Stambollouian and I were looking for true-crime stories to stage, this one jumped out at us: the setting is atmospheric, the characters are larger-than-life, and the story is wild! The events have been covered a lot, so research was easy — but choosing our version of the story was harder!

With Kenrex and Cruise you are carving a niche as an actor/writer. What do you love about creating and performing your shows?
I love the variation in my career: sometimes I write and act, sometimes I just write, sometimes I act in other people’s shows. The pressure of performing your own writing is quite intense, but I’m also a bit of a control freak, so it’s nice to be able to control the delivery of your work moment to moment.

As a writer, your plays include adaptations of novels (The Line of Beauty) and original stories (Cruise). What draws you to a project?
The heart of the story has to be crystal clear, and actually quite simple. Cruise was essentially a heartbreaking story of love and loss; The Line of Beauty was a Faustian tale of betraying one’s own truth; Kenrex is a gripping story of justice and revenge.

What future life do you envision for Kenrex, as it finds a larger audience?
I want more and more people to see Kenrex — theatre fans will love it, but it’s also a great show to bring theatre sceptics to: it’s like a gig, a Netflix true-crime show, and a podcast all rolled into one. Then, I hope we get to take Kenrex all over the world…

Book Kenrex tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

This article first appeared in the January 2026 issue of London Theatre Magazine.

Photo credit: Kenrex. (Photo by Pamela Raith)