Flowers, sculptures and wine festival in Morges, The Sound of Music in English at the theatre, Classical music at the Conservatoire. Living in Nyon talk/future films in Nyon, parking in Nyon, late local shopping hours and thankyou to a reader in Neuchatel. Finally, if Shakespeare were alive today would he be on Facebook? (see sidebar) An eclectic mix of events and news for you below. Tulip festival in Morges - Morges High Street with flags out The Tulip festival in Morges has now begun and will continue until May 16th. Over 200,000 tulips have been planted in the Parc de l'Indépendance near the edge of the lake and when they finally come into bloom there will be a spectacular display of flowers, (blooming is a little late this year due to the cold Autumn). However there are also daffodils, hyacinth and crocusses too and they should be coming into flower very soon (if they are not already). This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the festival and there are many special events organised over the following weekends. This year there will also be 15 sculptures in the park in an exhibition organised by the International Symposium of Sculpture.Tulip festival brief round up below, see the site for full detailsPark keepers preparing for the festival This weekend 10 to 11 April Weekend for families Bouncy castles, Clown puppets, Captive flights in hot air balloon, climbing wall, bicycle race, 17 and 18 April Swiss Weekend Orchestra, Accordions, carriage rides, raclettes, 23, 24 and 25th April Turkish weekend and International children's festival Processions, result of contest of giant tulips, folk dancing, shadow theatre, workshops for children Turkish food. 1st and 2nd May Dutch Day Bike rides guided tour on bicycle, Circus Klomp, Songs from Holland 8th and 9th May 80 potters in the Tulips Ceramic artists on site in the park, pottery demonstrations and pots for sale. Brass band music etc 15th and 16th May Medieval animations Reconstruction of craftsmen from the 15th Century. Stringed instrument maker Boat parade 16 May Note, each year in a different town along the lake there is a Naval parade of all the "Belle Epoque" boats from the CGN company. This year it is the turn of Morges and on Sunday 16th May from 13:30 to 15:00 there will be a naval choreography which will be visible from the quays at 14:15. It's quite spectacular and worth a visit. Wine fair Also in Morges on the 14-19 April it's the Arvinis wine fair which is open to the public, lots of stands and tasting of local wines, this year the "guest of honour" wine at the fair is Californian wine. Sound of Music The hills or rather the Theatre du Léman in Geneva will come alive with the sound of music in a couple of weeks with the GAOS production in English of The Sound of Music on 23, 24 and 25 April. If this show is one of your favourite things, then check it out on the GAOS website Classical Music Concert Bach and Handel will be played by Georges Kiss at a clavecin Sunday afternoon recital at the Conservatioire of Nyon on Sunday 18th April at 17:00 Living in Nyon - Documentary Film talk Thankyou to all who came to the last Living in Nyon event on Tuesday night. Mr Jean Perret and Madame Gabriela Bussmann (Director and Deputy Director) of Nyon's upcoming documentary film festival Visions du Réel gave a very interesting talk about the festival to a full house of Living in Nyon readers. They explained all about the festival, the logistics of choosing films amongst the 2,000 submitted. Mr Perret talked about the diversity of the films the aim of the festival and what is on the agenda for this year. Madame Bussmann talked about the market and pitching of films, she explained that this festival is rated highly in the documentary film world and how film makers come from all over the world to Nyon. The event was held in a new venue down by the lake, a perfect setting for a glass of wine and a chat and an interesting discussion. Watch this space for another Living in Nyon event! A short round of some news items taken and translated from La Côte newspaper Park prettily please From next Monday drivers who park their car in the Place Perdtemps car park will have to park in the designated parking areas. Those who have been sneaking their car into other parking places such as on the grass will find these areas blocked off, and if they discover a sign at the entrance saying "Car park full" it will mean just that and drivers will have to look elsewhere and not try to park illegally. Those who do, will be fined. Late shopping hours Discussions are under way at the moment between Nyon council and the commercial organisations to come to an agreement to enable the shops in central Nyon to open until 19:00 from Monday to Friday and until 18:00 on Saturday. Nothing is decided yet but when it is, this site will keep you posted! There are also seperate ongoing discussions as whether to install CCTV cameras around the town. New art installations by the castle until the 10th October There are some new shapes on the ground near the chateau, one is called "Formations" by Adriana Stadler and the sculpture hanging near the castle is called "Collier de la Comtesse" (the countesse's necklace) by Roland Heini. Thankyou very much to the reader who is moving to (or has moved to?) Neuchatel and contacted me with a very nice email after a visit to Nyon. Many apologies as I seem to have lost your email (amongst the many I receive) I was going to reply but your email seems to have disappeared into cyber space. So if you would like to send an email again then that would be great and I can reply!

From St Cergue to Chamonix The snowdrops are out, yet the snow is still in great condition, so what are the best options for skiing from Nyon, both nearby and up to 90 minutes drive away? St Cergue Nyon's own "ski-hill" is at St Cergue which is easily accessible via the red NStCM train from the centre of town. The two slopes are open all day Saturday and Sunday, and Tuesday to Friday afternoon. However, arguably the best way to enjoy skiing at St Cergue is to finish work early and try the night skiing from 7-10 pm on Tuesday to Saturday. You can combine this with a fondue at one of six participating restaurants. See their website for more info A little bit further on and worthy of a full day is to ski at La Dole. Accessible by car or by the red train and a bus connection (take either the 07.56 or 08.56 trains from Nyon), La Dole has a chairlift and 8 button tows. It is also connected through to the French resort of Les Jouvencelles. Take your passport! See La Dole website Options less than a 90 minute drive away Further afield there are many options within less than 90 minutes drive from Nyon. Heading east around the lake past Lausanne, there are a range of options including Leysin, Villars, Verbier and les Portes du Soleil. For families, Villars is a good option. Park either at the free car park on the left hand side on entering the town, and take the gondola onto the slopes, or alternatively, park in the underground carpark in the centre of Villars opposite the train station and take the train upto Bretaye. Take plenty of coins for the underground carpark - you will need CHF12 for 6 hours. Bretaye is the centre of the ski area from where the slopes radiate out. There is a flat area for beginners, a ski rental shop and several restaurants. Villars website Champery Across the other side of the Rhone valley, and opposite the Dents du Midi mountain range there is the village of Champery. It is part of the vast Portes du Soleil resort which has 650km of slopes. Set off from Nyon at 8.15 and you could be pulling up at the carpark in front of the cablecar by 9.30. Pack your passport as the best skiing is arguably over the border in France on the slopes of Avoriaz and Chatel. Whilst there are plenty of blue slopes, there are also unpisted and steep slopes - including the downhill course at Avoriaz and the infamous "Wall" which is the Swiss side of the border on the way home (though there is no embarrassment in taking the chairlift down if you don't fancy the moguls). There are also plenty of typical Savoyard restaurants, including several nice ones in the Les Lindarets "goat village" above Montiond. Portes du Soleil website Both Villars and Champery are also accessible by train from Nyon. Take the train to Brig and change in Aigle. There are mountain trains that connect to Villars and Champery, as well as Leysin and Les Diablerets. Les Contamines Heading west from Nyon around Geneva and down to Chamonix, another great option for families and those who prefer to ski on blue and red runs is Les Contamines. Turn off the motorway at St Gervais and in the town turn left to Les Contamines. This is a resort that is "off the beaten track", with wide open slopes situated above the tree line. It is situated in the snow shadow of Mont Blanc and so often has good snow. Drive through the village. If there is no car park space by the first gondola station you come to, drive further up the valley and there is a larger car park and a second gondola that will take you up the mountain. Les Contamines website Les Grands Montets at Chamonix A final recommendation for those who like steep slopes is Les Grands Montets at Chamonix. Drive to Chamonix, then carry on up towards the head of the valley to Argentière where the Grands Montets cable car is on the right hand side just off the main road. Be prepared to share the cable car with ski-mountaineers complete with ice axes and other high altitude equipment. Pay an extra fee and you can join them and take a cablecar upto 3300m and enjoy some off piste skiing through mountain wilderness and up close to a glacier. All less than 90 minutes from Nyon. Chamonix website A few other tips. Most of the larger resorts allow you to buy your lift pass on the internet. You will need to have a "hands free" ski pass. Several resorts also offer a loyalty scheme. Collect points every time you ski and you will be able to get either a discount or eventually a free day skiing.

As if we didn't know it already, Nyon is a fantastic place to live and even more proof of that comes in the form of a gold award given to it by Bilan magazine. The survey looked at 30 towns in Swiss Romandie with a population of more than 10,000 inhabitants.It concluded that for many reasons Nyon was one of the most active and economically dynamic. The town of Montreux was awarded the silver medal and Ecublens bronze. You can read the full report here in Bilan magazine and also on Nyon's own town website.

New brochure out on Vaud in English The Bureau Cantonal pour l'intégration des étrangers et la prévention du racisme (the Cantonal represtentative responsible for the integration of foreigners and prevention of racism) has now produced its "Bienvenue dans le Canton de Vaud " brochure in English. This brochure includes some very good information, from useful contacts for advice and information, to information on health insurance to housing to financial matters to administrative formalities. Living in Nyon has 20 copies of this brochure, at the next Living in Nyon event (talk above) there will be some available. Alternatively you can download the brochure as a pdf file from their site here

For those of you who can't wait for all the great local summer music festivals to begin, there is a festival going on in Nyon this weekend called Les Hivernales which should keep you going until the weather warms up. Various venues in the town have linked up together for two nights, Friday 12th and Saturday 13th Feb to create this mini music festival. The venues involved are The Usine a Gaz, La Parenthese, Le Cactus Jack, The Fishermen's Pub, the l'After night club and le Sky and also the associations of the Bains des Trois Jetées. The price of entry to the festival for one night is CHF 25 and this will enable you to move between venues to check out all the music. See the site for details of the bands playing each night (under programme). There was an interesting article in La Côte newspaper this week about how many groups and societies in this region have a presence on Facebook, from the Paléo fans (8,500 members), to the Gymnase of Morges (1113 members) to the nautical society of Nyon (39 members). Living in Nyon has recently started a presence on Facebook and also has a Nyon group on Mamicafé (see side bar). Visions du Réel the documentary film festival that takes place in Nyon in Spring, has announced that the video films of Tracey Emin will be shown at the festival for the first time in their entirety in collaboration with the Bern Kunstmuseum. There will be an evening of debates alongside the projections.

Sunday afternoon classical concerts by the lake The Conservatoire of Nyon opens a new year of Sunday afternoon classical concerts at their lovely building by the lake. The next concert is Sunday 28th February 2010 at 17:00 with a performance by the Quatuor Terpsycordes (see their site to find out more about them, it has asection in English) They will be playing Haydn and Beethoven. See details of concert under événements Fondue Demonstration Tues 23 February - " Time out for Women" 19:45-21:45 in Nyon Costs: CHF10 - refreshments and fondue demo incl. Rue Juste Olivier 6, 1260 ( in Westlake Church building ) RSVP: register with Ann Lloyd annlloyd7@gmail.com by Friday 19thFeb Usine a Gaz celebrates birthday On the 28th February the Usine a Gaz will be celebrating its 15th birthday with a series of concerts over three days, all with free entry. See the site for the full programmeSki instructor If you need ski instructors in this area who speaks English , the Ski School of La Dole has instructors who speak several languages see site or call 022 3601414

Caribana the music festival taking place on 9-13 June at Crans près Celigny (just on the outskirts of Nyon) have just announced today, that British rock/ska group Madness will be performing on the Saturday night at the festival. With hits such as "One Step Beyond", "Our House" and " My Girl" it should be a fun night by the lake! Also on the billing on the big stage on the same night is Jamaican star Sean Paul. Other local events Last few days of lakeside ice rink in Nyon as it closes on Sunday 28th February. Children's theatrical production on Wednesday afternoon 24th February at the Usine a Gaz for children up to 10 years old. Phillippe Campiche with "Ouh la la les loups!" Story telling with a harp (in French). Sports clubs in the area Want to practise your favourite sport in the area but don't know where to start looking to find out about the local sports clubs and associations? Then help is at hand, as there is a comprehensive booklet listing all the clubs and associations in the 47 communes of Nyon. From badminton in Arzier, to martial arts in Begnins, to ultimate frisbee in Nyon, they are all in a booklet provided by Nyon council called "Et si je faisais du sport!". This can be picked up from Nyon tourist office. It lists sports by each commune and has the details of the person to contact in each club.

Kafka au Congo this film will be shown again on Tuesday 20:00 in the Salle Communale The wheels of justice turn very slowly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, very slowly indeed, particularly for Gorette Mawazu who has resorted to jurisdiction to evict a squatter on her land. She has been trying for 15 years. At the start of the film we see Gorette having her shoes polished outside the court room before going inside to have her case heard. What follows is an instant entry to another world, watching this film from the well ordered, organised life of Switzerland, we are thrown in the chaos of a Congoloese courtroom, we hear all the noises of life inside and out as we watch the postponement of cases, documents produced from worn and tatty files, seemingly indifferent or apathetic court clerks and judges, files lost, lawyers deliberately misrepresentating facts. Kafkaesque indeed. When Gorette is back at home her daughter ask her; "Why it taking so long Mum, why do they hate you?" "It's not hate daughter", she says, "It's about money. The longer the case drags on, the more money the lawyers and everyone else can get out of me." We have already seen her pay a deposit of 20 dollars to a court clerk to enable the judges to visit the land in question. No receipt is given to her even though she ask for one. It's not suprising that the visit never materialises and she never sees her money again. You can only assume that this kind of thing has happened before, many times. There is a phrase that goes "pot calling the kettle black", meaning we can't really criticise others before we look at our own mistakes. So for a British person to comment on the corruption particularly amongst the politicians that is seen in "Kafka au Congo" would indeed be a like a pot calling a kettle very black in the light of the expenses scandal amongst some members of parliament in Britain. However, the sheer amount of corruption that goes on in society in ths film, from the bribery in the courts to bribery in electioneering is astonishing. What is even more astonishing is that it all happens so blatantly in front of the cameras. This excellent documentary, like many films at this festival immerses us in the life of others abroad and here often in humorous scenes. From the small minutaie of daily village living; the monkey painstakingly picking the fleas out of a pet dog, to the frequent power cuts back in Kinshasa. Then there is the sight of a sports programme on TV blaring away in a minister's office during meetings, his brother in law coming to him to ask for money to pay for his daughter's wedding. Later on in the countryside, the repeated scenes of a minister putting his hand into the inside pocket of his smart suit to give out dollars to villagers (many of them barefoot) before getting into his 4 x 4 car are all very telling and speak for themselves. When Gorette the main protogonist in the film goes to a tribal leader to find a different way of solving her legal problem, she asks for his advice. He says; " There are three ways of doing this, the legal way, the amicable way and the ancestral way". She continues with the legal way and during the course of filming we see the final verdict after 15 years of legal action. As this film is being shown again on Tuesday at 20:00 at the Salle Communale. I won't reveal whether Gorette wins her case. Go see for yourself. A superb documentary.

Film review -The Dog Hill This film will be repeated on Tuesday at 17:30 at the Capitole 2 Fellini This year as in every year, there are variety of films on offer at Visions du Réel. Some of them are big budget, some are shown with a lot of fanfare and publicity, some of the films are complex and deal with profound issues ie: elections in Iran, corruption in Africa, the use of pesticides on crops in South America. Others films are smaller ones and cover simple subjects and come to the festival with not as much pomp and ceremony, but are nevertheless are good films. The Dog Hill is one of them. It is a quiet and lovely film. Its main premise; a simple subject, the life and conversations of four shepherds working in the Polish countryside and filmed over a summer. They shear sheep, they smoke, they make cheese, the older ones give advice to the youngest shepherd amongst them, they argue amongst themselves, they make up. They hand out words of wisdom to each other, and what words of wisdom these are. When one of the shepherds tells another that his wife has been unfaithful but he is learning to forgive her, the other shepherd says “ You think you have forgotten but trust me you won’t, when another man has drunken another man’s soup you will never want to touch that soup again”. They continue on this vein with home spun homilies.There are some amusing moments and there is tenderness too, when one of them talks about the sadness he feels due to the recent death of his mother, the other shepherd is sympathetic. The cinematography in this film is simply beautiful, the soft colours of the surrounding nature, the earthy brown of the shepherds clothing, the white of the sheep’s coat, very few colours jar on the screen and we really feel and see the beauty of the Polish countryside. It’s a quiet film and a short one, just 39 minutes long, but every minute is sublime.

Salaam Isfahan (Good Morning Isfhahan) - Film review by Emma Johnson This documentary is part of the International Competition and is screening again on Tuesday, 20 April at 20:00 in the Capitole 2 Fellini cinema. In this graceful and moving documentary, Sanaz Azari quietly explores Iran’s political and social climate in the days surrounding the 2009 elections. Subtle and respectful in her approach, the director remains in the background, leaving room for the people of her birthplace to express their thoughts. This is not the story of tumultuous crowds or outright politics, nor are we told how Iran is. Rather, it is about individual voices, personal hopes and the all too human need for self-expression. Under the guise of a photo shoot, the crew takes to the city streets in order to capture a glimpse of peoples’ daily lives. The film opens with a shoot already in place on a quiet, shady road. The majority of people pass by quickly, refusing to be photographed. One neatly dressed man, who has himself posed for several photos, remarks “they don’t want any trouble with the elections coming”. This aside introduces the political undertone that flows through the film and grows in importance with greater proximity to the elections. While the political situation is not often directly referred to, it is always there – we can feel it. Many participants in the film are all too keen to have their photos taken for a European documentary. Their willingness indicates their need to be heard, their need to be recognised as an individual. What is perhaps most poignant in this documentary is the fleeting moments captured before the click of the shutter, where people’s reactions and gestures allow brief insights into themselves as they nervously look at the camera or unabashedly pose. These silent moments reveal much and give weight to a very human story. By asking simple, disarming questions like “What did you do today?” or “Where are you going?”, Azari gives the participants room to open up and reveal something about themselves, albeit unknowingly. In doing so, she offers the audience a privileged position – one where they are not told what to think but are able to see and interpret for themselves. Tender hopes for what might have been, and vulnerabilities are also exposed. One man who poses before the camera speaks of his childhood dream to become a Hollywood action hero. Others reflect on lost musical heritage or other changes in the city. A young girl wants to know when the documentary will screen, so that she can tell her friends. Parts of the documentary are filmed in various interiors, allowing the audience entry into a more intimate, secret world - one where private thoughts can be spoken aloud. In a particularly touching scene, a female protagonist demonstrates how to wear the different headdresses that are obligatory in a post-revolution Iran. Showing the camera the “latest fashion” and the different styles, she implicitly touches on the need for self-expression and the way this manages to emerge, even within the most limited confines. In a beauty salon, three women talk and joke about what they are still able to do in Iran under the current regime, in between applying make-up and swapping beauty tips. We visit them again after the results are announced. Here the violence surrounding the politics is explicitly addressed – they speak with sadness about the young people who have died in the demonstrations, “for nothing”. Yet the sense of futility soon dissipates as a philosophical note is struck with humour – one of the women who is preparing for a wedding notes that at least there will be no official raids at the wedding party to verify if there is dancing, as the army now “has bigger fish to fry”. On election day, the documentary moves outside the city and up to the nearby hills. People stroll in the soft, fading light, far above the city spread out below. A reflective, peaceful mood reigns here, seemingly far away from the political tensions below. Families and friends pose for photos as they talk about their days. Yet at the same time, just as the city remains in the frame, politics loiters in the background – it is an ever-present reality. Many talk of having gone to vote or the general climate, but their worries about the current situation remain unspoken. Two friends are asked what they love about Iran and respond that it is home, that is the only place where one is not a foreigner. Then one of them concedes that you can be a foreigner even in Iran, depending on the political climate. In one of the most striking and beautiful shots of the documentary, the camera slowly follows the gondola’s descent back down the dark hill to the glowering lights of the city. The noise of the crowds shouting political slogans rises, (though we do not see them) signalling an inevitable return to the city and to all its problems. In a final series of photos, a young couple poses on a bridge that traverses a dry riverbed. They express frustrations about the fraudulent election that touch the audience and make them wonder about Iran’s future. When asked where they are going, the young man replies that they are off to join the demonstrations and to “get beaten up”. A heartbreaking sense of futility is evoked, as is admiration for their resolve. Beautifully filmed, Salaam Isfahan documents the lives, reactions and feelings of normal people living under extraordinary circumstances. By giving room for people to knowingly or unwittingly tell their own story, Sanaz Azari opens up various personal Irans and gives the audience another experience of the country, one that we can access and relate to, despite the foreignness of the circumstances. And she does it with a moving grace. Director - Sanaz Azari

Les Arbitres / The Referees by Jean Libon and Yves Hinant in cooperation with UEFAFilm review by Trish Thalman Michel Platini never had a red card. It’s true! The iconic French International Football Team member and then manager, Juventus player, and now President of UEFA, Michel Platini gleefuly states his claim of ‘no red card’ to a large group of smiling and relaxed, professional European football referees gathered in Vienna at a kick-off event for the June 2008 UEFA European Cup Championship. He nervously said he had never been in the presence of “so many referees at one time”. What follows is an exciting, fast-paced, lively, ‘passion-for-football’ film at the June 2008 European Cup Championship which was shared between Switzerland and Austria. It's not a film focussing on the young, highly talented, sometimes handsome, (not always disciplined ) well-paid football players. What we see is an accessible film relating the impressive and surprising insight into the lives of the world-class, well trained, extremely fit, mature and emotionally disciplined referees, who make the important and final decisions about the rules of playing ‘the beautiful game’. These referees are the generally unacknowledged, often threatened, men on and off the field, who spend their professional careers running backwards, while looking forward, reaching into their shirt pocket to pull out the dreaded red or yellow card, writing a name in their pocket notebooks, or standing very tall and still, firm jaw, arm extended with finger pointing to the exit tunnel and ordering a player or team manager ‘out, get out’. Using modern recording technology, the referees and their assistants (the ‘trios’) wear radios and headsets, so we have the ‘front row experience’ of hearing uncensored swearing, out-of-breath players yelling at a referee in their native language (what did he say?), and personal conversations between referee and assistants during the matches making sure they agree on the calls. The filmmakers and recording technicians are given agreed, liberal access to the referees during the entire four weeks of the Championship. We get clear, in-depth telephoto shots of the referees on the playing fields dealing with decisions and disputes, facing up to the adrenalin-fuelled, often aggressive, players who hope to change the decisions by using either charm and pleading body language, or if that fails, down-right ugly language. Yellow card! We are taken into the quiet hotel rooms where the referees-as-fathers are wistfully looking at photos on the TV screen while missing their children, the referee’s stadium dressing room with high tension before a match, the half time rest/discussion concerning a call, “good game” and celebratory atmosphere among the ‘trio’ at the end of the match. The film is spontaneous and ‘happening now’, with close-up shots of referees and players, hand-held cameras bumping along following referees into and out of the stadiums, or panning across the tight-knit brows of the men at the critical referee meetings where the names of those who will go forward into the next tier of match play are announced. We enjoy the captivating, leading-edge audio and visual technology that goes into the production of this very ‘organic’ film. But we also learn at a major UEFA meeting concerning the persistent call for ‘video replays’ of referee’s decisions, that the players still do not use any technology during a game. They know the rules. They make mistakes. The game has referees who know the rules and make decisions according to what they know and see at the moment of a rule-broken. They make mistakes. The game is not foolproof. Football is not perfect. A remarkable achievement for a film that looks into the professional (and in a few cases private) lives of the extraordinary men who devote their lives to ensuring that football is played to the highest standards of fairness and success for all. Some of the referees even receive a handshake and “thanks” from delighted players at the end of the match - when they win! I think that was a smile on the face of Roberto Rosetti after the last whistle of the Euro Cup Final match. This film was shown on Monday night in Nyon as part of the Visions du Reél festival and there were questions and answers afterward with the film makers and two of the referees featured in the film. A DVD of the film will be on sale in Switzerland from 18 May 2010 in French and German. You can see a clip here on U tube which gives you a good flavour of what it is about.

Nyon circus school On Saturday 29th May at 20:30 and Sunday 30th at 17:00 L'elastique Citrique (the circus school in Nyon) will be presenting a show by a London-based company called "Like the rain when it stops". Performing in this London based company is an ex pupil from the Nyon school. The circus school is just next to the car parking in Place Perdtemps and two minutes from the train station. Based on previous performances this should be a superb show. -------------------------- Play in English The Chalk Garden Also a reminder that next week Geds (Geneva English Drama Society) will be performing "The Chalk Garden" by Enid Bagnold - Directed by Jenny Buffle at the Théâtre Pittoëff Geneva (rue de Carouge) 1-5 June 2010 Tuesday to Friday 20:00 Saturday 19:00 Written in the 1950s, this play was recently revived in the West End of London to great acclaim. See GEDS Synopsis - A modern parable about growing up and growing old and combines humour, drama, poetry and passion. In an old manor house on the Sussex downs, an aging London hostess struggles to control her unruly granddaughter and her equally unmanageable garden. When she hires a new governess for the child, she opens the door to more than she bargained for. However, help often comes in unexpected disguises and dark, brooding secrets may resolve themselves in happy endings! First night patrons may join the cast for a glass of bubbly after the show. Tickets - CHF 28.- (seats are numbered). British comedy night The following week on Tuesday 8th June "Funny Laundry" will be bringing two comedy acts to Switzerland with Arthur Smith and Josh Widdicombe. Venue: Le P'tit Music 'Hohl, 54 Avenue Louis-Casai, Geneva. Show starts at 18.30 Doors open at 19:30 Pre-show dinner reservations 022 798 8798. Tickets 35chf in advance from www.starticket.ch or on the door. See Funny Laundry