Saint Lucian Talent Takes Centre Stage With ‘Family Ties’

On November 16, Open Waters Theatre will stage its third major play, ‘Family Ties’, at the National Cultural Centre.

The play was written and directed by theatre enthusiast Tito Adams, 35, who says he uses the art form to both have a positive impact on society and keep the art of playmaking alive.

Family Ties touches on sensitive themes surrounding domestic and social issues. “Basically, the play is about family dysfunction at its core… it’s very sensitive and real. Like a family trying to help an individual who is a victim of domestic abuse and how it turns out for victims or people who go through that situation.”

Adams explained that these topics emerged from a need he saw regarding how such subjects are handled in plays, particularly those put on at churches. “Most of the plays that you see in church, sometimes they’re not really grounded in reality, and it also came from my experiences speaking with people who go through different things. That’s what Open Waters likes to focus on in terms of social ills, violence, crime; how do we create an avenue where we can impact society to the point where we can cause people to want to change,” he told the St. Lucia Times.

On November 16, the ten-person cast of Family Ties will take the stage. Many cast members are familiar faces to Adams, having been committed and involved in theatre for some time. They’ve been rehearsing since June for the upcoming play, aiming to create something spectacular.

Regarding the theatre scene in Saint Lucia, although Adams believes it is not as vibrant as he would like, it remains an outlet for his love of storytelling, which began to blossom as early as age 12. “I think it was in form 1 that I actually saw a stage play or a production, and I fell in love with it basically right then and there,” he said.

Being able to incite and unleash abundant creativity to connect with an audience is something he finds particularly alluring. It is also why, he says, although theatre was a long-standing interest, he now feels inspired to pursue it more fervently: “It’s just in the latter years I said, you know what, let me try to approach it more aggressively in terms of telling stories and getting people to like drama, theatre, and acting again.”

He hopes that the audience can match his and his cast and crew’s enthusiasm, coming out to support local talent: “It’s local at the end of the day, it’s young talent, local talent, we’re just trying to do something that’s different.”

Adams notes that this play may differ from popular plays of the past, which often draw from Saint Lucian culture and folklore, but he promises it will be a treat for drama, theatre, and art lovers.

Audiences, he says, can expect to be moved, entertained, and to laugh, have a good time, and, perhaps, to be challenged.

Photo: Cast of Open Waters Theatre play, ‘Family Ties’: (L-R) Tevin Auguste, Keri Franklin, Tito Adams, Roger Hare, Nicquan James, Imani Gaspard, Clairissa Robinson, Richard Ashton, Porcia Gustave and Keziah Annius (not pictured)