The recent Sheffield Theatres production of KENREX, which ran from October 26th until November 16th in the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, has announced the production will be transferred to the off-West End venue Southwark Playhouse Borough in London.
Set to open on February 14th and run until March 16th, the production, which enjoyed a sold-out run in Sheffield over the past month, starred Jack Holden, joined on stage by composer and musician John Patrick Elliott.
In a press release yesterday, Sheffield Theatres announced the transfer and production dates, saying “Aria Entertainment and Sheffield Theatres are thrilled to announce that the world premiere of KENREX will transfer from Sheffield Theatres’ Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse to Southwark Playhouse Borough”
“KENREX is part True Crime, part Western, with a foot-stomping live Americana soundtrack, devised by Jack Holden (Olivier-nominated Cruise) and Ed Stambollouian.”
The story follows an infamous local of Skidmore, Missouri, who is killed in broad daylight by a mob of locals, yet no one seems to have seen a thing.
The play received multiple five-star reviews during its Sheffield run, with many lauding the production’s “spell-binding amalgam of Under Milk Wood, Bonnie and Clyde and a more democratic version of Gunfight at the OK Corral”.
Forge Press also reviewed the production last month, giving it four stars and celebrating its use of music and soundscape.
The play is unique in that it comes with an accompanying album, KENREX Music from the Play, which is available to stream.
Editor Sophie Layton also said she “would love to see it reappear soon touring the U.K., or potentially in a West End residency”, with her thoughts seemingly shared with many audiences and creatives.
The Southwark Playhouse Borough, located near Central London, is one of three venues owned by the Southwark Playhouse, with KENREX heading to Borough’s The Large.
Notable previous productions staged by the venues include In The Heights, Seussical, How to Succeed in Business without really trying and Merrily We Roll Along.
Yesterday’s announcement, merely two days after the end of the production’s run in the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, was unexpected, yet widely welcomed by theatre groups & audiences around the country, excited to see this play gain new life so soon after the end of its Sheffield run.
With three months until KENREX returns to the stage, excited audiences hae already been racing to buy tickets for the show’s transfer, with a future West End residency looking more and more possible.
KENREX played from October 26th to November 16th in Sheffield’s Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, & will play London’s Southwark Playhouse Borough from February 14th to March 16th 2025
