This year’s highly anticipated Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival will introduce a fresh, thought-provoking addition to its cultural programming: a satirical musical production titled *Repair*, set to take the stage at Castries’ Anchorage Car Park on May 5. Slated as a core offering of the festival’s popular Art and the City initiative, the production weaves together original music, sharp humor, and intimate storytelling to push audiences toward a deeper examination of the lingering links between Saint Lucia’s colonial past, its current social and economic hurdles, and the transformative changes needed to build a more equitable future.Organized and sponsored by The Repair Campaign, a local advocacy group focused on advancing reparatory justice, *Repair* is designed to open the often complex conversation around reparations to a broad, general audience through approachable, engaging art. Sherween Gonzales, a community organizer based in Saint Lucia who works with The Repair Campaign, explains that the musical frames identity, collective community, and reparatory justice in a format that feels accessible rather than intimidating.
“As an educator, I have long believed that the arts stand as one of the most powerful tools to connect with people across all backgrounds,” Gonzales shared in an interview ahead of the performance. “*Repair* draws audiences in through laughter, song, and relatable narrative, inviting quiet reflection while still asking hard, necessary questions about who we are as a nation, what inherited legacies we carry, and what tangible reparations could look like for the people of Saint Lucia.”
The production features a cast of local Saint Lucian performers bringing the story to life, including Christelle Lee in the lead role of Ma Ayo, and Kolbe Devaux portraying the character Robert. Lee emphasizes that the musical’s core message centers on the unbroken connection between historical harm and modern daily life in Saint Lucia.
“Every part of our lives today is woven through with the legacy of our history,” Lee explained. “The centuries of subjugation, torture, and trauma that our ancestors endured did not stay in the past — it has quietly shaped our collective mindset, influenced how we engage with the world around us, how we view and trust public systems, and even how we show up for one another as community members. That is precisely why this story matters. This play does not lecture; it invites you to reflect, to question, and to reconnect with a history that still lives inside all of us.”
Devaux echoed that sentiment, noting that *Repair* intentionally reframes reparations from a distant, abstract political debate to a relatable, community-centered conversation rooted in Saint Lucian culture. For the cast and organizing team, the goal is to turn what is often seen as a niche policy topic into a personal, shared reflection.
“The question of reparations grows more urgent for our nation every day, and we owe it to our people to seize every opportunity to educate and start conversations,” Devaux said. “For me, bringing this conversation to audiences through theater is the perfect combination of art and activism. It creates a new space to share important information with the public, taking a cultural art form that is often dismissed as just entertainment and reimagining it to create real, meaningful impact for every person who attends. That aligns completely with the core goals our team holds for every performance we do.”
Admission to *Repair* is completely free for all attendees, making the conversation accessible to any member of the public who wishes to participate. The performance is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. at the Anchorage Car Park venue in central Castries.