Baba Israel

Artistic Director / CEO

Telephone: 0161 274 0622

eMail: BabaIsrael@contactmcr.com

Baba Israel was raised in New York by parents who were core members of the Living Theatre.

He developed as a young artist exploring spoken word, Hip Hop, and experimental performance. He lived and worked in Australia working on major community theatre projects and festivals. He has toured across the US, Europe, South America, Australia and Asia, performing with artists such as Outkast, The Roots, Rahzel, Ron Carter, Afrika Bambaataa, Vernon Reid, and Bill Cosby.

Previous directorial work includes the Project 2050 (New World Theatre), Countryboy Struggle (Maxwell Golden) and Sharpening SAWDS. He was co-founder and Artistic Director of Playback NYC Theatre Company which brought theatre to under-represented communities.

As an educator he has worked internationally developing projects with a young people centered focus. He holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary arts from Goddard in the United States.

He became Artistic Director of Contact in 2009, after several years of performing and leading workshops at the venue as a visiting artist.