Actor and writer Jack Holden had a huge hit with Cruise in 2022, and I think he might have done it again with Kenrex, which has transferred to the Southwark Playhouse from Sheffield.

Based on a true story in the small isolated town of Skidmore, Missouri, Ken Rex McElroy is a piece of work. He's a dangerous bully, sensitive to any slight, and engages in a menu of criminal behaviour: theft, intimidation, abduction and statutory rape among his indictments.

And yet, despite being hauled in front of the justice system 21 times, with the help of a clever lawyer and targeted threats, he always manages to get off.

Then, one day, he shoots the local greengrocer over a petty argument and it pushes the community over the edge.

Kenrex is a play of successful, skilful layers that combine to make something extraordinary. It's a gripping thriller of a story brought vividly to life by Jack Holden and musician John Patrick Elliot.

Jack Holden plays all the characters transforming in a blink with just a change of stance and voice. He transports you to Skidmore, painting a colourful picture of the town and the events from that fateful time with descriptions, radio broadcasts, phone calls, interrogations, and reenactments of key moments.