Spier’S Slave Story Informs And Entertains
MAY 21, 2012
Spier has launched the Gables Audio Walk, a fictional account of the reality of life on a Cape wine farm in the early part of the 19th Century. The story was researched and written by acclaimed playwright Brett Bailey.
Visitors to Spier hire a headset and an audio device, and are guided around the farmstead to various points where the story unfolds. Gables is narrated by Sannie de Goede, the ghost of a fictional slave on the eve of her freedom.
Set in 1836, the audio walk offers insights into the dying days of a colonial society that relied on slavery. Bailey did extensive research for the project, which included historical accounts, fictional stories, political insights, and romantic perspectives - even evocative books on food!
“I listened to the many voices recorded from that time, and was struck by the silent voices - those of the slaves,” he says. “Gables reimagines a slave woman’s life on a wine farm - and all the complexity and heartache that went with it.”
The walk holds some juicy content, from a slave woman’s affair with the ‘klein baas’, a wayward ‘klein nooi’, romance and lovechildren, as well as some heartbreaking stories of the treatment of slaves at that time. It is packed with interesting facts and is as informative as it is entertaining.
Actress Jill Levenberg relates Sannie de Goede’s story. Having played a real-life slave previously, Levenberg is no stranger to the role. “I read a lot of slave stories and did research to help me be true to character,” she says. “Coming from Cape Town, I could really relate to Sannie’s love of the kitchen and cooking with interesting spices. And working with Brett was hugely rewarding - the journey he takes you on and his writing really speaks to me on a deep level.”
“Brett Bailey’s vivid imagination and skill as a storyteller enables the listener to experience what it must have been like to live on a wine farm in the 19th Century,” says Annebelle Schreuders, Spier Marketing Director. “Aside from offering interesting social commentary, the story is hugely entertaining.”
The story is made up of 12 chapters. Guests follow the map and signposts around the farm to numbered stations where they listen to the relevant chapter.