BALTIMORE: Baltimore Center Stage (BCS) has named Stevie Walker-Webb their new artistic director. Walker-Webb succeeds Ken-Matt Martin, who has been serving as interim artistic director since April, when Stephanie Ybarra departed.
“Stevie is a bold and thoughtful leader who matches artistic brilliance and delight with a history of placing art at the center of the work,” BCS managing director Adam Frank said in a statement. “At this
critical juncture in the American theatre, his passion, energy, and commitment to Baltimore make him an inspired choice for a vibrant future for BCS.”
“We are thrilled to pass the torch of leadership to Stevie Walker-Webb,” BCS board president Sandy Liotta said in a statement. “One of Stevie’s celebrated productions at BCS was Our Town, a story of community and life that Stevie staged as a compelling ode to the city of Baltimore and all its people. Stevie understands deeply the bond between the arts and our city.”
Walker-Webb is a director, playwright, and educator who was recently nominated for a Tony Award for directing the Broadway production of Ain’t No Mo’, which he also directed at the Public Theater. His work has been commissioned by the National Black Theatre and the American Civil Liberties Union, and he has directed productions with the Paper Mill Playhouse, the New Group, Classic Stage Company, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Walker-Webb has also written for the Emmy-nominated television show The Ms. Pat Show and is the founder of Hundreds of Thousands, an advocacy organization that uses the arts to raise awareness about the treatment of mentally ill incarcerated people and solitary confinement. He is the founding artistic director of the Jubilee Theatre in Waco, Texas, where his brother was incarcerated and subjected to over 100 days in solitary confinement, inspiring Walker-Webb’s arts activism.
A lecturer at Harvard University, Walker-Webb is the recipient of the Princess Grace Award, the Dramatists Guild’s Lily Award, an Obie Award, and a 2050 fellowship at New York Theatre Workshop. In addition to Our Town, he has also directed The Folks at Home and the past season’s Life is a Dream at BCS.
“From the moment I stepped into the lobby of Baltimore Center Stage, I intuitively knew that I’d found a creative home,” Walker-Webb said in a statement. “This theatre sits at the precise intersection of all the
things that matter to me both as an artist and as a civically engaged citizen. I am honored to be leading an institution that has over 60 years of proven commitment to its community, and I intend to deepen that commitment by working with the Baltimore Center Stage team to bring only the most exciting and cutting-edge art to our city. This theatre belongs to all of us, and my plan is to program plays that
will make Baltimore fall in love with live performance again and again.”
Walker-Webb will assume his role on Oct. 1.
Baltimore Center Stage, the state theatre of Maryland, aims to provide high-quality theatre and programming for community members, including youth and families. BCS ignites conversations and imaginations through an eclectic season of professional productions and engaging community and education programs. As of 2022, the theatre had a budget of approximately $7.7 million.
