About the Play:

Sam Slick Goes Ahead is a full-length dramatic comedy by Andrew Gillis, based on The Clockmaker by Thomas Haliburton. The story begins in 1835 with a visiting, rather incompetent British intelligence officer who is hot on the trail of the Yankee clock salesman Sam Slick, whom he suspects is some kind of American agitator. The officer quickly meets up with Slick, and ends up listening to Slick's endless opinions about just about everything on his travels through Nova Scotia.

Sam Slick Goes Ahead is based on stories from 19th-century Nova Scotia. The year is 1835. Thomas Poker has been sent to Nova Scotia by Britain's Ministry of the Interior to investigate possible covert American activity in the province. On hearing stories of a certain Yankee peddler – a clockmaker named Samuel Slick of Slickville, Connecticut – Poker contrives to meet him and, posing as 'The Squire', convinces Slick to take him on a tour of the province. In this tour, Sam Slick shares the secret of his successful clock-selling business, his opinion of Nova Scotia and 'Bluenosers', and his unique thoughts on going ahead. The Squire takes notes, convinced Slick has a secret agenda which includes the annexation of Nova Scotia to America, and hatches a few plots of his own.

Sam Slick Goes Ahead premiered in 1998 in a converted hockey rink at The Atlantic Theatre Festival in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. First serialized in 1835 and 1836 and then published together in late 1836 in response to public demand, the sketches of The Clockmaker established Thomas Chandler Haliburton as a satirical humorist of international stature. With this dramatic adaptation, playwright Andrew Gillis moves Canada's first best-selling literary character Sam Slick from page to stage.

Cast: 3 men

What people say:

"Sam Slick Goes Ahead is an ideal introduction to one of Canada's greatest humorists." — The Halifax Daily News

About the Author:

Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796-1865) was the first Canadian writer to gain an international reputation. He was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia and became a lawyer, judge, and politician, but his great fame came from his writing. He wrote a diverse number of books on history, politics, and farm improvement. He rose to world wide fame with his serial The Clockmaker that first appeared in to Joseph Howe's journal The Novascotian and was later published in book form throughout the British Empire. The books recounted the humorous adventures of the character Sam Slick and became extremely popular light reading.

Andrew Gillis was born in Halifax in 1971. He grew up in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and studied theatre at Acadia University. He has worn various hats at the Atlantic Theatre Festival including assistant to the Artistic Director and assistant director. Sam Slick Goes Ahead is his first published play.