“Start a huge, foolish project like Noah, it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you” (Rumi)

The Revelator is a community-built structure which will become a unique nomadic Theatre-in-the-Round. Combining heritage, identity and story it offers a reconnection and sense of communal pride through making.
Once complete, The Revelator will become a unique nomadic Art Space comprising LocalTheatre, Art School, Gallery and Cinema. aswell as a Wall of Death, a form of Fairground Performance Art which has not changed since the 1920s. It involves riding motorcycles horizontally inside a giant wooden barrel and then performing a ballet on the saddle of the gyrating bike 16 feet in the air with the audience perched at the top looking down. It is poised, elegant and graceful but also dangerous. I started this project a year ago in March at the very start of lockdown. Working in total isolation in my shed, I began to build a Wall of Death piece by piece using recycled wood. The diameter of the Wall is 28 feet and it is sixteen feet high. Many years ago I trained as a cabinet maker so I decided to make use of my long learned skills using only handtools and traditional hand cut joints, no screws or nails. I worked like this right through from March to August. When Lockdown eased I moved into the historic Barclay Curle Building on the Clyde beneath the Titan Crane. One by one I was joined by a team of devoted volunteers, all keen to learn new skills. We are all learning from eachother all the time. The project is one of hope in these difficult times. We have managed to keep sane by hard work and long hours. To date we have spent 4750 hours lovingly creating this new exciting space for Glasgow.“The Wall of Death has saved my life. It has given me a focus and a routine and I am learning new skills every day” Paul, a Revelator volunteer.
The Revelator is a Clydeside work-in in the true spirit of Jimmy Reid. It is also useful unemployment in these uncertain times.