Oil and Water is Artistic Fraud’s theatrical retelling of the incredible true story of Lanier Phillips. Shipwrecked aboard the USS Truxtun in 1942, Mr. Phillips was the only African American survivor. What happened to this son of the racially segregated south at the hand of the nearby town of St. Lawrence forever changed his world and became a legendary story that still resonates over seventy years later.

Oil and Water features a cast of ten supreme actor/singers and an a cappella score that blends the celtic folk tradition with African American gospel.

Magic in the theatre is rare to witness and hard to describe, but that is indeed what is happening with Oil and Water… Theatre at its most imaginative.

Toronto Star

…a powerful piece of theatre with an important story. This is theatre that engages its audience for all the right reasons.

The Slotkin Letter

Photo Credit: Clint Butler, Anderson Ryan Allen, and Mike Payette in Oil and Water