Somerset Place Historic Site was filled with activity July 12 for a special Days Gone Program from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Food, games and wares from local vendors were all featured at the event for anyone interested.

The Bare Theatre Group from Raleigh NC headlined the day performing “Let Them Be Heard”, a critically acclaimed play which featured dramatic adaptions of slave narratives based on recorded interviews with formerly enslaved North Carolinians.

The play spanned one hour and was told as a walking tour across Somerset Plantation as various characters are encountered.

“ The words you hear come directly from the Slave Narrative Project, a Works Progress Administration project which documented over 2,300 interviews with surviving former slaves. So all of the stories that we have done, those are the words as they were recorded by interviewers,” said G. Todd Buker, Managing Director of Bare Theatre.

Buker mentioned that he and the theatre group have met ancestors of people of the historic sites where they have performed.

“We actually met some today from Somerset. It is always an interesting experience. It obviously means a lot to them. Unfortunately it is hard to find ancestors from the people whose stories we are doing. A lot of times they do not have an account of their ancestors. So this gives them an idea of what it might have been like for their ancestors,” said Buker.

Typically an actor needs three to five rehearsals to get into a character.

“Most of the narratives done today have been performed before. So once the actor and I have worked together, they pretty much have it. They can go out onto a site and perform that,” said Buker.

Performing helps solidify an actor’s grasp of a character and what needs TO BE conveyed.

Let Them Be Heard originated at Historic Stagville in Durham, NC. This is the first time it has been performed at another historic site.

“ This play is a project that continues to grow and teach us, and we hope that gives you something to think on,” says Buker in a director note passed out to visitors.

The cast consisting of Barbette Hunter, Kyma Lassiter, Melvin Gray, Gil Faison, and Robin Carmon Marshall injected passion into their performances by pointing at audience members, singing, and gesturing with imaginary props.

Gil Faison portrayed Thomas Hall, a man upset about how the experiences of his people have been appropriated by writers, including Harriet Beecher Stowe.

“You are going around to get a story of all this,” he mocked at one point.

Faison’s character then tells the audience that he thinks Harriet Beecher Stowe and other self-titled abolitionists only have their own self-interest at heart.

“Let Them Be Heard” has been performed at three historic sites now. It has also been performed at a theatre in Carrboro.

“We are going to be taking it to a school in Durham this week. So we are looking at doing more and more with it,” said Buker

Buker thanked Karen Hayes and the board and staff of Somerset Place for making the performance possible.

“We can give voice to the forgotten ones who witnessed America at its most cruel, and yet maintained hope,” says Buker in ending portions of the director’s note.

An estimated 55 people attended the four performances.