The Stage

Wall of Death: A Way of Life

Published Monday 8 February 2010 at 13:25 by Thom Dibdin

Thrillingly visceral, the wall of death side-show has been brought into the heart of the latest production from the National Theatre of Scotland, as director Vicky Featherstone continues to explore the boundaries of theatrical experience in a collaboration with performance artist Stephen Skrynka and the Ken Fox Troupe.

Performers on The Wall of Death Photo: Peter Dibdin

The 15 or so minutes of the troupe’s wall of death performance is, after all, inherently theatrical. Against the throb of the engines, thunder of tyres across the wooden boards and squeal of the crowd as the daredevils rise up to within a hand span of where they stand peering over the top of the wall, the athletic stunts are pure theatre.

They certainly caught Skrynka’s imagination and the production is his fulfilment of a lifetime’s ambition to take to the wall. Before the performance, a series of his wall of death-related zoetropes is on display, fairground-style. Projections of his attempts to learn to ride the wall are displayed as the audience wait for a short Q&A session with the Fox family, which puts the wall itself in historical context. And, when he is able to perform in public - he couldn’t yet for the press performance - his own riding will feature after the thrilling “hell riders race” finale.

While the exploits certainly thrill, it is the body-language and backchat of the Q&A session which is most intriguing. Here, as much as could be caught or evoked on any other stage, is a glimpse of a way of life. The total, however, is rather more theatre installation or live art than theatre, even of a site-specific nature.