The Five Daughters of Indra come to earth to see for themselves what it means to be human. With local and global natural, and unnatural, disasters, and game shows hosted by Guy Fawkes, they experience much more than they bargained for. The latest tragedies in Las Vegas and Florida and the recent weather, flood and fire disasters inspired the ShortBurst® RAW Theatre Company at Santa Monica Playhouse to explore unity and compassion in the face of vicarious trauma, surviving the flood of life, separation anxiety and creating a community out of chaos.

Helmed by Playhouse co-artistic director Chris DeCarlo, renowned worldwide for his professional artist/community member ShortBurst® Theatre productions and written by Playhouse Playwright-in-Residence Evelyn Rudie, The Daughters of Indra is crafted and performed by Smita Bagla, Martin Cohen, Serena de Stella, Taneirva Dodson, Suzanne Gangursky, Sarah Holguin, Bob Hucul, Cornelia Jonsson, Linda Kohn, Alexandra
Lambrakis, Wendy Lamm, Elena Pinto and Berkeley Sanjay, who does double duty as an assistant director. Music for Elena’s Song is composed by Nathan Boler.

One encore performance only – Friday, March 23 at 8 pm.

Created by Playhouse Co-Artistic Directors Chris DeCarlo and Evelyn Rudie as a tool for international theatrical and cultural exchange, and further developed for use locally and nationally by Associate Director Serena Dolinsky, ShortBurst® Theatre allows non-performers through professionals to address issues of concern and discover their artist's voice, combining movement, speech, performance art, text, ensemble work, improvisation, research and writing to create intense original productions performed for the public, with the goal of fostering a sense of community, gaining a deeper understanding of the similarities and differences in our shared and diverse traditions and cultures, and providing audiences and participants with dynamic tools to make a difference in their lives and the health and well-being of their community.

The Daughters of Indra is supported in part by grants from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission, the Cotkin Family, Pearl and Bill Bordy, and Playhouse PALS.