A Harley ride along Route 66 was the trip of a lifetime for Jez Colborne, he tells Steve Pratt

PERFORMER Jez Colborne had to undertake unusual "rehearsals" before embarking on his latest stage show. The learning disabled artist had to go on a motorbike training course in preparation for a 3,000 mile road trip along the famous American highway Route 66.

"I'd been on the back of scooters but never on the back of a Harley. I had to do a training course to make sure I could ride pillion," he says.

On the actual US trip, he rode behind director Tim Wheeler on a Harley Davison, while film-maker Jonathan Bentley shot footage of the epic journey down what's called "the main street of America".

Once the trip was completed, York-based writer Mike Kenny fashioned Colborne's experiences and interviews into a solo play for the performer.

The touring production from Mind The Gap, one of the UK's leading theatre companies working with disabled artists, comes to The Studio at York Theatre Royal this month.

The show, which uses film and music, follows Colborne's three-week journey and the people he met on his once-in-a-lifetime trip, which took in Las Vegas and San Francisco. They included firefighters, a chief of police, a transvestite and an existential Spiderman.

"I'd not been in America before, it was my first time. It was my dream and my dream came true," he says.

Colborne is a composer, keyboard and harmonica player, songwriter and performance artist. He's performed extensively in cabaret, festivals and piano bars and won the 2003 European Song Contest for Disabled Artists in Hamburg.

He first worked with Mind The Gap in 1999. Since then, he's taken leading roles in Don Quixote, Pygmalion, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Of Mice And Men and Cyrano.

It was while rehearsing the last production that Wheeler gave him the news that the trip was under consideration. "I was like, 'wow'," he recalls. "Then we went to a meeting with the Arts Council to see if they would fund it. I begged on my hands and knees."

The journey was planned in detail before the four-man team - performer, director, film-maker and sound engineer - set off on their travels. On his return, Colborne related his experiences to Kenny. Together with film and interviews shot along the way, this became the show, On The Verge.

"It's a one-man show about me going to America, talking to people and meeting American disabled people," he says.

"One of the highlights was just being on the Harley. The bike is the American way of life. It's a gorgeous piece of machinery in my eyes. I know you get other makes but nothing's like a Harley.

"It's the feel of it, the laid-back feel. I was very sad to say goodbye to it. Just watching the film makes me wish I was back on it again.

"Route 66 lived up to its image. There were lots of motels and towns. Some of it was a bit like the Wild West."

He took time out to visit Salinas, where John Steinbeck wrote his play Of Mice And Men, which Mind The Gap is looking to revive later this year.

He bought some Harley gear - a jacket and hat - in Chicago, which he wears on stage for the show. Now he's hoping to join the Harley club so he can continue to ride on the back of one.

Taking the show to the US would also be a real thrill. "Who knows? That would be cool if we could go there - because we'd get to ride a Harley again," he says.

* On The Verge runs in The Studio, York Theatre Royal, from Thursday to Saturday. Tickets (01904) 623568

Published: 16/04/2005