Galas: Literal Rough Cuts, Designing Snow White

The Royal Court will present the first-ever Literary Ball (Bal Littéraire) held outside France tomorrow night (Friday 2 July 2010) as the season finale for this year’s Rough Cuts programme for developing new, experimental work.

Ten French and British playwrights – including Marion Aubert, Alexi Kaye Campbell, Nathalie Fillion, Samuel Gallet, Fabrice Melquiot, Nina Raine, Mark Ravenhill, Pauline Sales and Penelope Skinner – have come together this week to “tell a story, a story with songs, songs we all know, songs we can dance along to”.

The resulting piece is being written over just two days and will be performed for one night only tomorrow. The 10pm late-night performance in the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs will be followed by “dancing and drinking until the early hours” in the theatre’s bar.

The Literary Ball is an International Rough Cut, part of International Playwrights: A Genesis Foundation Project, developed with the support of the French Institute, London. It’s presented by La Coopérative d’Écriture. Tickets cost £5 and can be booked via the box office on 020 7565 5000 or online at www.royalcourttheatre.com.

Further ahead, it will be the turn of fashion designers to get together to design and star in a pantomime in the West End. In advance of the usual panto season, Snow White and the Seven Designers will run for six nights from 12 to 16 October 2010 at the Garrick Theatre, with a star-studded, black-tie gala on 14 October, all held in aid of Dementia UK, a national charity committed to supporting families affected by dementia.

Written and directed by Russell Penn with a set by Jonathon Coleman, Snow White and the Seven Designers will include costumes designed by legendary names from British and International fashion brands including Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, Giorgio Armani, Zandra Rhodes, Paul Smith, Pucci, Amanda Wakeley, Thomasz Starzewski and Bruce Oldfield. And, amongst those set to take to the catwalk – or rather the stage – themselves are Tim Gosling, Bill Bennette, Joanna Wood, Nina Campbell, Tessa Kennedy, William Yeoward and Stephen Ryan.

Snow White’s wicked stepmother is in a complete strop. Not only has her magic mirror told her that Snow White is fairest of them all, but the chairs, the wallpaper and the cushions are apparently more beautiful too! Even killing Snow White will not make her the fairest in the land. She will have to do something far worst … turn the world minimalist! Join Snow White’s seven designers – Dapper, Snappy, Snazzy, Natty, Classy, Chintzy and Taupey – as they help save the beautiful Snow White and lead the fight against London’s biggest threat, criminally style-less interiors.

Tickets range from £20 to £65 and can be booked on 0844 412 4662 or online at www.interiordesignerspantomime.com.