In this episode of You Can’t Eat Art, Clara Kamunde speaks with Ava Roy, founder of We Players, an innovative site-specific theater company that blends storytelling and public performance, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the realm of public art. Ava's singular artistic vision is about the power of art to imagine and create brave new worlds all around us.About Ava Roy: Ava Roy is the Founding Artistic Director of We Players, founded in 2000. Her unique style of dynamic, site-integrated performance aims to highlight the historical and natural treasures of local landscapes and encourage new ways of experiencing and appreciating these places. She holds a Stanford University BA (2003) in a self-designed major: Ritual and Performance in Aesthetic Education. Since 2008, she has pioneered unique partnerships with the National Park Service, the California State Park system, San Francisco Recreation and Parks, and other municipal and regional park sites, creating spectacular immersive performances throughout the Bay Area. Inspired and guided by Shakespeare since her teenage years, Roy has explored many characters from the canon, ranging from Juliet to Henry V, Mercutio to Lady Macbeth. Roy is a fan of classic literature, crumbling buildings, historic sites, majestic natural landscapes, espresso, salt spray, and sunshine. Roy is a yoga teacher and a sailor, and in her next life plans to live in the ocean.For more about Ava, visit our webpage ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ and We Players' ⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠. —About Clara Kamunde:Clara Kamunde is an Oakland-based, Kenyan-born cultural worker practicing at the intersection of arts education and social justice. Her career began with the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles where, as a grantee for the Artist-In-The-Community program, she collaborated with community organizations to produce and present site-integrated programming in urban parks, recreation areas, historic sites, and schools located in under-served communities throughout Greater Los Angeles. For her contribution in supporting access to quality arts programming with DCA, she was awarded an Honorary Citation by the City of Los Angeles. She was formerly a fellow at the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State University where she earned a master’s degree in Creativity Studies.—About the Lucas Artists Residency Program:Established in 1939, Montalvo Arts Center is home to the third oldest residency program in the United States. In 2004, Montalvo re-committed to its support of artists by opening a new, state-of-the-art facility, relaunching as the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program. The residency is dedicated to providing artists with a flexible and expansive space in which to create, encouraging the creative process, risk taking, collaboration, and cross-disciplinary investigation of contemporary issues. The LAP is a hybrid model that supports uninterrupted time to develop new work, while offering opportunities to share ideas and projects through public programming and partnerships.For more info about the residency, visit our ⁠⁠website⁠⁠. Follow the LAP@lucasartres Credits: “Syndrome” from the album Tide’s Arising Instrumentals (Mashibeats, 2024) used with permission of LAP 2023 CA Fellow Mark de Clive-Lowe; © Mark de Clive-Lowe/Mashibeats Podcast cover art created by Olivia Esparza© Montalvo Arts Center, 2025

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