Tom Sawyer, perhaps even more than Peter Pan, is the icon for eternal boyhood. Whether playing hooky from school, exploring the depths of a cavern, romancing a fair maiden, hunting for buried treasure or even attending his own funeral, Tom is an endearing composite of brash American confidence, unbridled enthusiasm and fresh-faced naivety, and he is certainly one of Mark Twain's most memorable characters.
Although Twain gained his initial reputation as a newspaper reporter, his was a storyteller at heart, winning fans with his sparkling wit and keen observations of human nature in such popular tales as The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County and A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court. It is fitting that Twain himself should be a primary character in bringing Tom's story to life on the stage in playwright, Mike Parker's, delightful adaptation, Mark Twain Presents The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.