Robyn Israel is an award-winning playwright and performer from Montreal who now calls London, Ontario home.
Her hysterical comedy, Jewish Girls Don’t Kayak, won the 2007 Brickenden Award for Outstanding Comedy. The show debuted at the London Fringe Festival, where it wowed audiences with its mix of humour and honesty.
She remounted it in 2009 at The Arts Project in London, where she expanded it into a full-length production under the direction of Peter Busby. Robyn has brought the show to Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, St. Marys, and New York City. In 2010 she performed JGDK at the Winnipeg and Atlantic Fringe Festivals. More dates are pending!
Robyn’s new play, Tribes, debuted at the 2010 London One-Act Festival (LOAF). LOAF also marked her directorial debut, with Michael Wilmot’s Summer Comes Late.
Robyn’s background is in improvisational theatre, having studied at BATS (Bay Area Theatre Sports) and the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. She wrote and performed My Mother God Love Her, a comedic monologue, at the Marsh Theatre in San Francisco.
Robyn is an arts and entertainment journalist and has taught both journalism and improvisational theatre at The University of Western Ontario. She is a member of the Or Shalom Theatre Troupe in London.
Robyn is hard at work writing a new play. She hopes to unveil it before 2012.