Kwei-Armah is known to Centerstage's audiences through his plays Elmina's Kitchen and Let There Be Love, and as director of Things of Dry Hours.

He serves on the board of The National Theatre and The Tricycle Theatre, both in London. He most recently served as artistic director for the World Arts Festival, a month-long festival of black arts and culture, in Senegal. The festival featured more than 2,000 artists from 52 countries participating in 16 different arts disciplines.

Kwei-Armah succeeds Irene Lewis, who has been the artistic director of Centerstage for the past 19 years. He was selected after a nine-month search.

Centerstage is in the middle of its 48th season and will announce its next season in a few weeks. Kwei-Armah is expected to begin work in July after completing the various immigration visa processes. His first fully programmed season will be the 2012-13 season.

"For the past five years, I have been proud to call Baltimore my second artistic home; today, I am pleased to call it my first home," Kwei-Armah said in a statement. He added, "My vision is to attract other artists to come to Baltimore and utilize the talent and resources we have at Centerstage — and in the community — making it a top destination for any artist. Similarly, as we use our talent and resources to innovate and shape how theatre is made, we should like to export that to the broader world." Visit centerstage.org.