Advance Man
Play by Mac Rogers - Directed by Max Sandler
Martina Peterson - Stage Manager
Siena Pacheco - Assistant Stage Manager
Synopsis
“Advance Man introduces Bill, Amelia, Ronnie, and Abbie, a family filled with conflicting personality types living in a charming Floridian suburb. Bill raises his children with his wife Amelia, while leading a startup company focused on alleviating food shortages globally. At least, that is the advertised purpose of the organization. Bill and his wife have taken Conor, a former member of Bill’s crew, into their home after he suffered an apparent stroke during the crew’s last mission to Mars. The couple lives with their daughter, Ronnie, a bold truth-seeker who challenges authority (both inside and outside the house) and her brother, Abbie, a sensitive and artistic soul who escapes into his comic book sketches. Abbie’s latest creative venture, a graphic novel featuring The Honeycomb, is filled with insect-like aliens that live in a hive – a concept implanted in Abbie’s mind by his father. Between addressing Ronnie’s school fights and her rebellious attitude, Amelia begins to suspect that her oft-absent husband is having an affair. However, all is not as it seems, and Amelia’s suspicions uncover something far more sinister. (Show summary courtesy of Theresa Perkins at myentertainmentworld.ca)
Advance Man 2021 Cast
About the Director - Max Sandler
After only dabbling in drama class in high school, and being an actor for the Sock ‘n’ Buskin theatre company for 2 years, Max Sandler is excited now to embark on a new journey as a director for Sock ’n’ Buskin, which will be his first behind-the-scenes role.
Sandler identifies himself as what you might call a bit of a stereotypical nerd: He spends a lot of his time time indoors playing board and video games, and loves to read/watch sci-fi and fantasy media.
“That’s part of the reason why I’m excited to put on a production of Advance Man this year; while still being a distinctly theatre-oriented experience, it incorporates some of the genre tropes of sci-fi that I love so much which are normally relegated to big-budget movies”, Sandler says.
That being said, director Max Sandler believes Advance Man asks a lot of important moral questions which he hopes gives his audience something to think about. The characters in the play are placed in tough situations and are forced to follow their own moral compasses, which don’t always align. “There are no easy answers here”, and Max personally loves this about Advance Man and hopes others will as well!
Martina Peterson
– Stage Manager –
Martina is a fourth year Linguistics student at Carleton taking on the role of a stage manager for the first time! She has loved participating in theatre since middle school, and has had small parts in school productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2014), Legally Blonde (2016), and Once Upon A Mattress (2017). She got started with SnB in 2019 as a stagehand for Pride & Prejudice, and has since done backstage work for King Lear (2020) and Bad Auditions… On Camera (2020). She also had the huge privilege of acting in Concord Floral last spring as the Greenhouse. Now an SnB board member, she is so excited (and a little nervous!) about stage managing Advance Man and bringing to life a very unique show. She’s looking forward to working with old friends and making new ones, and to finally be doing in-person theatre again!
Siena Pacheco
– Assistant Stage Manager –
Siena Pacheco is a second year Global and International Studies student specializing in Global Politics with a Minor in Music. She is actively involved in the arts in her hometown of Leamington as well as in Toronto, in Ottawa and internationally. She is no stranger to the stage. Siena has performed in over 40 different operas and 13 musical theatre productions in which she held various roles. Some of Siena’s recent theatre credits include Cinderella in Into the Woods, Winnifred Banks in Mary Poppins, Elsa’s understudy in Frozen and Alice in the Addams Family. She has also had the opportunity to perform a title role in the opera Brundibar at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has travelled to New York to perform the Mass of the Children under John Rutter at Carnegie Hall. Ultimately, Siena is very excited to be the Assistant Stage Manager for Sock ’n’ Buskin’s production of Advance Man and she looks forward to working on this show with the cast and crew.