Our Collaborators

WE are a revolving collective of actors, dancers, musicians, academics, teachers, non-profiteers, chefs, therapists, and writers.  Our collective changes with each project; We Players’ focus on the history and themes relevant to the project site attracts collaborators with specific interests and skills.  We are so thankful to explore our local treasures with all of you.  More info on our collaborators can be found under each of our project pages.
If you’d like to play with WE, check out staff and intern opportunities associated with our current projects.

Ava Roy / Founding Artistic Director

Since founding We Players in 2000, Ava Roy has served the company as director/producer and as a performer. As an actor, Ava has trained primarily with Shakespeare & Company of Massachusetts, has taught in their youth education programs, and performed with the company. She is an alumna of Stanford University where she earned her BA in a self-designed major: Ritual and Performance in Aesthetic Education, 2003. Since 2009, Ava has worked as the first theater artist on Alcatraz Island, in an historic partnership with the National Park Service. She recently directed an island-wide production of Hamlet on Alcatraz, to public and critical acclaim in fall 2010. Ava is preparing to embark on a new performance odyssey on Angel Island, by invitation from the California State Park system. Her unique style of interactive, site-specific performance aims to highlight the historical and natural treasures of the local landscape and encourage new ways of experiencing and appreciating these places. Her work is inspired by the entrenched themes and stories of each site, and strives to include the communities connected to the space those affected by the issues embedded therein. In addition to her performance work, Ava is a yoga teacher and avid sailor.

Lauren Dietrich Chavez / Managing Director

Lauren stumbled across the path of We Players 1st show and has been working and playing with the company since 2001.  She is a healer, committed to developing regenerative resources, resilient communities, and rich culture, while facilitating individual health and the expansion of awareness.  Lauren has a BA in Architecture and Urban Design, with a dance minor, and a MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering, both from Stanford University.  She has professional green building and permaculture design credentials, and presently practices bodywork/massage and teaches nature awareness programs to youth, in addition to growing We Players into a thriving non-profit arts institution.  Lauren loves connecting with the gorgeous environment and engaging the layered history and creative people of the Bay Area through We Players‘ unique process of outreach, engagement, and performance. She focuses her efforts on outreach, development and company administration.