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 ‘Bluenoses’, 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. With this dramatic adaptation of Thomas Chandler Haliburton’s The Clockmaker, playwright Andrew Gillis moves Canada’s first best-selling literary character from page to stage.

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. This is his first published play.

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“Sam Slick Goes Ahead is an ideal introduction to one of Canada’s greatest humorists.” Ron Foley MacDonald, The Halifax Daily News