Metropolitan Police force) for ten minutes whilst dressed as a pink ballerina and wearing a pig snout over his face, before being threatened with arrest and moved on by police officers. Support of Raoul Moat In September 2010, McGowan staged a one-man play, The Re-enactment of the Assassination of Raoul Moat, at the Deptford X festival, funded by the National Lottery and Arts Council. This was conceived by McGowan to commemorate the life and crimes of Newcastle upon Tyne-born murderer Raoul Moat. The play saw McGowan wearing a cardboard box with the face of Moat on it. McGowan attempted to tell the story from Moat's point of view. He also played other roles such as a newsreader and the blinded PC David Rathband. This issue along with Mark McGowan's stage play The Re-enactment of the Assassination of Raoul Moat were discussed on British national talk show The Wright Stuff under the topic "waste of cash?"; the host claimed that he "hates the Facebook culture promoting Moat as a hero" and McGowan was described as the most "self-promoting, publicity-seeking sicko out there." McGowan later apologised, saying "I would not want to upset anybody and if my play has caused anyone any unnecessary grief I am sorry. I am an artist and this is just an interpretation of the event". Victim Support added "It can be viewed as being in bad taste especially so soon after the events." McGoean defended the play to the BBC, saying "Being a witness to your times is very challenging, it's difficult not to affect people if you are doing your job. One of the things that people have a problem with is art as a form of representation of a contemporary issue. The role of art is to challenge." International protest and demonstration Europe At 10pm on Friday 19 December 2008, McGowan dressed as a Christmas tree and attempted to stand crying for 72 hours. McGowan said: "Hopefully this art performance or sculpture will carry a message to the people of Lisbon and Portugal who are lucky enough to have their families and friends around them at Christmas, that there are some people who are less fortunate and maybe we could extend our goodwill to them as they find the holiday season quite painful and sad. It is particularly moving that this event should take place in Rua do Poço dos Negros, surely a horrible area