A Twisted Christmas: Saint Lucia theatre company stages fifth play in November

Saint Lucia's busiest theatre company has confirmed dates for its fifth major production in as many years. Open Waters Theatre will stage A Twisted Christmas, a family drama with sharp comic edges, at the National Cultural Centre in Castries on Sunday, November 22 and Saturday, November 28. As reported by St. Lucia Times, the cast and crew are on schedule to deliver it.

The play, written and directed by Tito Adams, follows a family whose Christmas gathering comes apart when a run of revelations threatens the holiday. Adams says the story takes in fatherhood, the relationship between parents and children, and infidelity, and he has hinted at a supernatural character whose appearance he expects to unsettle audiences.

The nine-strong ensemble includes familiar faces from earlier Open Waters productions, among them Tevin Auguste and Keri Franklin. Adams has kept the same performers deliberately. He told St Lucia Times that holding the team together preserves the chemistry on stage, so that what audiences see comes across as authentic rather than assembled.

That continuity is part of a larger plan. Adams wants to build a permanent theatre culture on the island, one where local productions draw the kind of anticipation he compares to Broadway, and eventually to run a theatre that can pay actors and crew full time. His previous shows, Family Ties in 2024 and The Chillout in 2025, were well received, and the company has held on to its support.

The subject matter is consistent with that ambition. Adams has spoken before about using theatre to shine a light on social problems while keeping playmaking alive on the island. A Twisted Christmas continues the approach: an entertaining story on the surface, a harder look at Saint Lucian family life underneath.

For visitors on the island in late November, the production is a genuine local evening out rather than a staged tourist show. The National Cultural Centre sits in Castries, within reach of the resorts along the northwest coast, and anyone searching hotels in St Lucia for that window will find themselves close enough to catch either performance. All-inclusive resorts in St Lucia cluster around Rodney Bay and Choc Bay, a short drive from the venue, while luxury hotels in St Lucia along the same stretch offer a more quietly upscale base after the curtain comes down.

The timing matters for another reason. Late November sits at the shoulder of the season, before the winter crowds arrive, which many travellers consider the best time to visit St Lucia for quieter beaches and lower rates. Direct flights to St Lucia from the UK run through the winter season, so a trip built around the second performance on November 28 is entirely feasible. Those plotting longer holidays to St Lucia around the dates can fold the show into an itinerary that also takes in the Pitons and the Soufrière coast to the south.

A Twisted Christmas is also a marker of how much the island's creative economy has grown beyond the beach bar. Local theatre companies now mount consecutive productions with returning casts and paying audiences, and the same creative energy shows up in the island's festivals, restaurant kitchens and craft traditions. Adams's hope for paid, full-time theatre work would, if it arrives, be a small but real addition to the economy of Saint Lucia.

Whether a permanent theatre follows is, for now, an aspiration rather than a plan; no venue or funding has been announced. What is confirmed is the November staging: two performances, one cast of nine, and a playwright who believes Saint Lucian audiences will keep turning up. Tickets and further details are expected through the company's channels ahead of the opening night.