When Slater Vance decided to bring Yale’s first Black student theater group back to life this August, there was a familiar name among its original founders: his mother.
The first-year student, son of Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance, has revived the Heritage Theater Ensemble, the group Bassett founded in 1979 during her own time at Yale. Bassett graduated in 1980 and went on to earn her MFA from the Yale School of Drama in 1983, a period when Black students, even within the drama school itself, had few roles available to them. The ensemble became a communal space where Black creatives could perform, write, and build community together, staging productions over the decades that included “Filling Basins,” which chronicled the 1881 Atlanta Washerwomen Strike, and “Topdog/Underdog,” a two-man play exploring race, justice, and masculinity. It went dormant during the pandemic and stayed that way until this past August.
Working alongside co-president Chin Onwu, Vance has rebranded the group as the Heritage Production Company, expanding its mission to encompass both theater and film. “She originally created this space because when she was here, there were no Black roles, even in the Geffen School of Drama,” Vance told the Yale Daily News, referring to his mother’s experience decades earlier. He said Bassett was genuinely excited to see the ensemble return.
The new leadership is aiming for one film and one play each semester, with the company’s first major production already set for spring 2027: a staging of “Six Degrees of Separation” by playwright John Guare, who also came through Yale’s drama school. Beyond the productions themselves, Vance said he hopes to tell stories tied to the African diaspora and give a new generation of Black creatives on campus a reason to get involved in the arts.
Early signs suggest that appetite already exists. Nearly 70 students have registered as members through Yale Connect. Film major Sumaiya Bangura, a member of the class of 2029, said she’s hoping to work with the company and believes it will push more Black students to step outside their comfort zones creatively. “I think there is a lack of Black collective in film,” she said. “I hope the revival of this company can help others re-understand Blackness and create new pieces that can be added to the Black canon.” Fellow 2029 classmate Demi Singleton, who played Serena Williams in 2021’s “King Richard,” offered a similar read, saying the company will help connect students through art and creativity.
Rounding out the Heritage Production Company’s executive board are Willa Jackson, Talia Hsia, Hera Farago, Zachary Minter, and Isabel Tiburcio, alongside Vance and Onwu.