17 year old to write new B'way-bound Tom Sawyer play

Could Mark Twain's timeless character Tom Sawyer be heading back to the Great White Way? The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut has announced that Playwright-in-Residence Noah Altshuler, who is incidentally only 17 years old, will adapt Mark Twain's classic, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer into a brand new stage adaptation, and that they are already eyeing a Broadway bow.

Mark Twain House Executive Director Cindy Lovell released a statement saying,

"At the age of 17, a young Samuel Clemens, later known as Mark Twain, set out from Hannibal, Missouri to find his destiny. It is with great excitement and anticipation that we support another 17 year-old writer on a similar journey. Noah Altshuler is an exceptional choice to reexamine and adapt The Adventures of Tom Sawyer for the stage. I look forward to hearing about his adventures as he develops his play of this American classic."

New York Times Best Selling Author, Michael Thompson added:

"The Twain Museum has made an inspired choice by picking the dynamic and creative Noah Altshuler to be their playwright-in-residence and to adapt Tom Sawyer for this generation. He has a special gift for translating the experience of adolescent boys into words. I cannot wait to hear his take."

According to a press release, Altshuler's play will be "adapted primarily from the well-known and much-beloved The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), but it will also include plot elements drawn from lesser-known works in the canon, including 'Tom Sawyer Abroad' (1894), and 'Tom Sawyer, Detective' (1896).

Altshuler looks to follow in the footsteps of his accomplished grandfather, Frederick Buechner, who is an O'Henry Prize winner, as well as a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist.