Last August, Baltimore Center Stage announced the appointment of Stephanie Ybarra as its new Artistic Director. She succeeds Kwame Kwei Armah, who left to become the Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theater in London.
Stephanie Ybarra comes to Baltimore after six years as the Director of Special Artistic Projects at the Public Theatre in New York City, where she oversaw its popular Public Forum programs and led the theater’s Mobile Unit on a first-of-its-kind national tour. She is an alum of the Women’s Project Theater, where she’s served for the past few years as the Producer’s Lab Liaison. She is also the Curator and Casting Director of the Cruzando Fronteras, or Crossing Borders Festival at the Two River Theater in New Jersey. That festival features the work of Latinx theater artists.
Stephanie Ybarra is, in fact, the first Latinx theater artist to lead one of America’s major theaters. Baltimore Center Stage on Thursday announced the list of plays it will present during its upcoming 2019-2020 season. Our theater critic, J Wynn Rousuck, joins Tom in Studio A with Stephanie Ybarra to talk about the new season lineup, and about the artistic vision she's bringing to her new role at Baltimore Center Stage.
This conversation was livestreamed on WYPR's Facebook page. You can watch the video here.
