YOKO 0N0 is not just one of the world's most famous widows; she's also an artist who has delighted in ignoring gallery etiquette. At the epicentre of Huxus. the (i()s art movement dedicated to knocking down the boundaries between art and life. ()no initiated numerous Happenings which have tended to be associated with husband John Lennon. When the couple took to their bed in a Montreal hotel room in the name of peace and love. it was a typical ()no idea. In 'l‘ransmission‘s .il Grapefruit In The World (Zl'l’urk. a weird title that sets ottt to mean nothing. ()no's llunnm'rxl Nail In is on display. It's a DIY artwork; ()no sent instructions to the gallery to tnake up a small oak cross and viewers to the exhibition will be invited to knock in nails as a public ‘interaction‘ with art. (Susanna Beaumont)
A Grape/full In The World ()j'l’ark is (I! 'l'rtmxmissio/i (Jul/cry, Glasgow until Sat 6 Apr:
THE 1996 PUPPET & ANIMATION FESTIVAL isn’t just for kids, { boasting an animation t . programme that ranges from the l T ‘ comic genius of Wallace and J '- Gromit to the classic cartoon allegory Animal Farm. Phil Mulloy’s The Sound 0! Music 1 (pictured) heads a strong line-up of recent British shorts and, we promise, no Julie Andrews. The Animation Festival is at the Macliobert Arts Centre, Stirling, from Tues 26 Mar. See Kids listings for highlights of the Puppet Festival.
STEPHEN MCCANN is no Howard Keel, but he finds himself stepping into the great man’s cowboy boots nevertheless to play Wild Bill Hickock opposite Cemma Craven in Calamity Jane. Stephen is well known as the youngest in Scouse acting tamily, the brothers McCann. ‘We always performed in some way,’ he says prior to whip cracking away in Coventry. ‘We used to get drunk at parties and play guitar, but it was only when Paul got into RADA that we started focusing things and thought, “oh aye, we could make something of this”. Then I woke up one day and we were all actors.’ After a stint at Liverpool’s Everyman Youth Theatre (alumni include Cathy Tyson and Ian Nart who played John lennon in Backbeat) McCann’s first protessional part was in a musical alongside his siblings. They didn’t work again until the BBC series The Hanging Gale set during the Irish potato famine which Stephen McGann co-devised after researching his own family history. ‘We were kids when we first worked together,’ he says. ‘Now we’re all grown men and I remember thinking “God these people are actually really good at what they do”.’ McGann did the obligatory spell on Broakside but has refreshingly avoided typecasting in cheeky Scouse roles. ‘Casting directors aren’t actually letting Scousers play themselves,’ he complains, though he does praise Robert Carlyle’s portrayal of a Hillsborough surivior in Cracker. He’s a football tan himself, religiously buying a pair of season tickets for Antield. ‘Every time liverpool get in a final I’m always working,’ he says. ‘It’ll happen again this year, you just watch.’ (Neil Cooper)
Calamity Jane is at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre from Tue 2—Sat 6 Apr.
2 The List 22 Mar-4 Apr 1996