Theatre: Wall of Death: A Way of Life

The Wall of Death was once a fairground staple. Now Fox, regarded as the world's leading wall-rider, has one of the last remaining walls in Britain. It is an anachronism with no place in a risk-averse society – which is one of the things that makes it so fascinating.

"If you invented the wall today, you wouldn't be allowed to do it," says Stephen Skrynka, the artist creating Wall Of Death: A Way Of Life with the National Theatre of Scotland. "The whole reason we're able to see Ken Fox and his family do it is because they've been doing it so long. It's astonishing that they're allowed to do it – that's what interested me.

"The show you're seeing is the same as it was 80 years ago. And it's still amazing. With all our evolution technologically, our visual awareness, when you can go and see a film like Avatar, we think we're so advanced. But when you're confronted with the reality of something like the Wall, it's incredible and not at all dated."

Skrynka, a graduate of Glasgow School of Art, has been fascinated with the Wall of Death since watching a re-run of the 1964 Elvis film Roustabout (where the King stars as a wandering singer who hooks up with a carnival) while still at school. When he started to look into the subject, he had no idea where it might lead. In fact, it led to Fox, who invited him to come and witness the wall for himself.

"I was completely blown away. My theory is that in these days of virtual reality and computer-generated images, the reality of the Wall is made much more real. Because of the proximity you feel like you're part of the action. It's probably the most visceral thing you've ever experienced."

His idea to create a show around the Wall won the backing of the NTS, transforming it from a one-man art project into a multimedia spectacle co-directed by NTS chief executive Vicky Featherstone. As well as giving audiences the chance to watch Fox and his team perform their own show on the wall, Skrynka was keen to explore the Fox family's world.

For them, the Wall of Death is a way of life. The riders in the show are Fox himself, his sons Luke and Alex, and Luke's girlfriend Kerri Cameron. Julie, Ken's wife, runs the box office and drives the lorry. The boys learned to ride as soon as they were tall enough to sit on a motorbike. When Ken and Julie wed, their rings were blessed in the Wall of Death.

Travelling with them in a caravan, Skrynka became part of the team, setting up and dismantling the wall, and looking after the bikes. As well as responding to it as a visual artist, making zoetrope-style animations in partnership with animator Jim Lefevre evoking the magic of fairgrounds long gone, he is learning to ride the Wall himself.

He says: "I see myself as a catalyst for showing the audience how the Fox family lives. I can't do that without getting totally immersed in their life, which involves learning to ride the Wall."

Having trained for a short period with Fox, he can ride his 1928 Indian Scout (the bike favoured by wall-riders) quickly around the angled ramp at the foot of the wall ("You get dizzy very fast if not used to it"), but has not yet mastered the vertical. He describes Fox as "part sergeant- major, part zen-teacher – it's uncanny how he knows what's going on in my head".

"Once you've developed the basic skills, you stay on the bike going fast enough, it's a complete leap of faith to grab whatever it is inside you and actually go on the Wall. Ken will tell you when that point has been reached, from then on it's down to you. It could take two weeks or six months, and a lot of people don't manage it at all. Skrynka hopes he will master it during the tour and complete a "bumble-bee" – a lap usually performed by apprentice riders at the end of a show.

While Skrynka's projects often involve learning a skill – training as a Glasgow cabbie in Bartered Ride (2000-1), being a waiter and chef in a "mobile restaurant" in Moveable Feast (2004) – this is the most dangerous he has attempted. "Somebody said: 'Don't you feel like Evel Knievel?' But he would just try things not knowing if he would survive them, try to leap over the canyon having no idea whether his bike would make it. To me, that's madness. This is learning a skill, a craft. Yes, it is dangerous, but I'm being taught by the best.

"They make it look so beautiful, simple, you think you want to have a shot at it. My purpose in all of this is to show it's not simple, it's actually really, really difficult. What you're seeing is a finely tuned, finely crafted, exquisite piece of ballet that has taken years to perfect."

Co-director on Wall of Death, Vicky Featherstone, says that Skrynka's quest provides the show with its dramatic shape, while not detracting from the accomplishment of the experts who perform balancing tricks and ride in formation inside the Wall with a kind of serenity. "It's an Everyman journey, Stephen is the one who is allowed to do it, he is us."

She described the Wall as "one of the most thrilling live experiences I've ever had. The adrenaline is incredible. I've seen it loads now, and I thought I'd get used to it, but I haven't. You have this feeling that you've done it yourself. I wanted to see if I could do something that's theatre which would make the audience feel that extraordinary energy."

Wall Of Death: A Way Of Life is an example of a growing trend in theatre to narrow the gap between audience and performer and blur the boundaries between real and pretend. "They're not faking anything out there, it's absolutely 100 per cent for real, but turned into a heightened version of itself so it's an event," says Featherstone. "I'm always looking for ways to push the boundaries of what theatre is, and to entice in different kinds of audiences. I love going to see great actors, going to see great plays, but it's also great to have a different experience."v

Wall Of Death: A Way Of Life, SECC, Glasgow, Thursday until 12 February; AECC, Aberdeen, 15-17 February; Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, 20-28 February www.nationaltheatrescotland.com

This article was first published in Scotland on Sunday, January 31, 2010