"Terra Firma" / "A Number" / "Woman Of Flowers" / "The Commuter" / "The Shape Of Water"

My first reviewing assignment of the year was National Dance Theatre Wales three-part “Terra Firma” at the Sherman – a welcome chance to see two pieces I’ve seen before – “Folk” and the beautiful “Tundra”, alongside the recently-developed “Atalay”. Obviously, I’m no expert in dance, but there’s plenty there, in terms of grace and skill to delight the non-aficionado.

My second was the first in the new season at The Other Room – Caryl Churchill’s “A Number”, in which a father encounters cloned versions of his adult son. A very clever and involving two-hander, handled with great assurance.

And most recently, there was Theatr Pena’s “Woman of Flowers” at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama – Sion Eirian’s take on Saunders Lewis’ adaptation of the story of Blodeuwedd, from the Mabinogion – a rare chance to see some pleasingly weird classical Welsh theatre in English.

Sara Gregory in "Woman Of Flowers" (photo: Holly McCarthy)

I wouldn’t normally have gone to see a Liam Neeson action feature in the cinema, but “The Commuter” is notable for featuring my niece, Ella-Rae Smith, in what turns out (spoiler alert) to be an important role. The story of a recently unemployed salesman (and former cop) who is bribed/blackmailed by criminals to track down an associate on a commuter train, it’s very slickly directed by Jaume Collet-Serra; and Neeson is more charming than he’s allowed to be in his “Taken” guise. And, of course, Ella is excellent.

 “The Shape of Water”, Guillermo del Toro’s latest film is a fable of connection and outsiderdom, featuring a magical lead performance from Sally Hawkins. She plays Elisa, a mute cleaner, in a U.S. government facility in 1960s Baltimore, who becomes entranced by a new acquisition – a sea-creature captured in South America, the study of whose biology would impact on Man’s ability to breathe in space. The period detail is impeccable, as are the performances – Michael Shannon as the saturnine bad guy, Richard Jenkins as Elisa’s gentle, gay neighbour, and Octavia Spencer as her feisty friend and work-colleague.  It doesn’t break any new ground thematically, but it tells an age-old story with great style and sensitivity, and is well deserving of all the awards and nominations which are coming its way.