Ojai Valley News & Ventura Sun
This Is Water’: Rain Perry dives deep into America’s racial reckoning
Rain Perry of Ojai, award-winning musician and storyteller, blends personal narrative, historical reflection and original music in a new theatrical solo production, “This Is Water,” lined up for a nine-show run at the 2025 Hollywood Fringe Festival. “This Is Water” will be staged at The Broadwater Second Stage at 6320 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles.
Directed by Ojai’s own Kim Maxwell, “This Is Water” is one white woman’s journey, told with humor and heart, of looking anew at her white childhood, grappling with race, privilege, and identity. Previews begin on Saturday, June 7, at 3:30 p.m. and Tuesday, June 10, at 8:30 p.m. Admission to the show is permitted for ages 16 and up. To buy tickets, visit: hollywoodfringe.org.
The show’s website, thisiswatershow.com, stated that “the pendulum has dramatically swung from cultural soul-searching to a moment when non-White history is being scrubbed from government websites,” and cited “the social reckoning of 2020-2021” as a particularly motivating timeline for the show’s inception.
Perry is a singer-songwriter, playwright, and filmmaker known for her deeply personal and socially conscious work. In creating “This Is Water” — the title of which was inspired by David Foster Wallace’s 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio — Perry set out to examine race in the best way she knew how: by looking inward. She began writing down every memory that had anything to do with race, uncovering how her own history shaped her worldview. One result was her 2022 recording, “A White Album.” Now, in 2025, several songs from that record find their way into “This Is Water.”
Through song, multimedia, and theatrical storytelling, Perry brings to life formative moments, from a childhood story about her (white) mother’s Black childhood friend to her own reckoning with white feminism. Perry strips away academic detachment and grounds every historical reference in personal experience. The show encourages audiences to move beyond defensiveness, embrace discomfort, and engage in a deeper conversation about race in America.
“When we first promoted this show, we feared ‘preaching to the choir’ in my little white hometown of Ojai,” Perry said. “But we quickly realized — there is no choir. Even those of us who see ourselves as ‘doing the work’ have more to learn. My hope is that audiences leave more curious, less defensive, and, ultimately, ready open their hearts.”
“This Is Water” also features music direction by Mark Hallman, dramaturgy by Lindsay Jenkins, and performances by musicians Jeff Turmes and Karen Hammack.
“All big social issues are best told through a personal story,” Perry explained. “I wanted to challenge myself to hold myself accountable onstage and hope audiences will do the same.”
“This Is Water” was facilitated by a grant from the Ojai Arts Commission and the city of Ojai, which allowed the production’s development to be workshopped at the Kim Maxwell Studio in October 2022.
Maxwell gave a shout-out to the Arts Commission, then-Mayor Betsy Stix and Ojai City Council for providing the grant, stating, “Without their support, our upcoming world premiere at the Hollywood Fringe Festival wouldn’t be happening, and we are so grateful.”