In 1992, Boyd Vance founded ProArts Collective. In 1999, ProArts sponsored the first Black Play Fest. Over the next six years, Vance produced numerous acclaimed black canonical plays, including Alfred Uhry’s Driving Miss Daisy, August Wilson’s Two Trains Running, Athol Fugard’s Master Harold and the Boys, Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog, and Adrienne Kennedy’s Funnyhouse of a Negro. Lisa Byrd continued the work as executive director with Stephen Gerald, a professor with The University of Texas Department of Theatre and Dance, as the part-time artistic director. Byrd started the BAM (Black Arts Movement) Festival in 2006. Memorable productions during Byrd’s tenure include Antoinette Winstead’s Common Ground and Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman, both directed by Stephen Gerald.
