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Special Feature
by R. Kent Rasmussen © 2019
Stage Plays Adapted from Mark
Twain's Works
This table contains an unavoidably incomplete list of dramatic adaptations of Mark Twain writings known to have been published in book form or staged in major productions. Publication details for many of these plays are sketchy. Sold primarily by small companies specializing in working scripts for theater groups, most of these plays are not listed by the Library of Congress. Consequently, much of this information has been gathered from sites such as worldcat.org, amazon.com, Google Books, and web pages of various publishing firms, such as Samuel French and the Dramatic Publishing Co. Details provided on those various sites are typically incomplete and often contradictory. Wherever possible, publication details have been taken directly from printed copies of the plays, but details for most titles cannot be regarded as definitive. Note that many plays have been issued in multiple editions, sometimes by different companies. The dates given here are the earliest that have been observed for each play. Note, too, that this list includes a few radio plays that happen to have been published in books. No attempt has been made to include other radio plays or any screen plays at all.
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DATE
|
TITLE
|
AUTHOR
|
|
THE
ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER
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||
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1898
|
Shadows of the Past [Broadway production] | |
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1902
|
Huckleberry Finn | Lee Arthur |
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1931
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Tom Sawyer: A Play in Four Acts [Broadway production] | Paul Kester |
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1933
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Tom Sawyer: A Play in Four Acts | Beatrice Odie |
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1935
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Tom Sawyer: A Play for Old & Young With or Without Music | Sara Spencer |
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1936
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Play in Three Acts | Charles George |
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1936
|
Tom Sawyer: An Operetta in Three Acts Based on Mark Twain's Story, Tom Sawyer | Theodosia Paynter; music by G. A. Grant-Schaeffer |
|
193?
|
Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Play for the Marionette Theatre, in Four Acts | Federal Theatre Project |
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1936
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Tom Sawyer Wins Out: A One-Act Play-Dramatization from incidents in Mark Twain's famous story, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" | Pauline Phelps |
|
1947
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Tom Sawyer's Morning | Regina Brown |
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1951
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Mississippi Melody: An Operetta in Two Acts Based on the Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn | Charles George |
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1955
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Tom Sawyer: A Musical Play in 1 Act & 7 Scenes | Jonathan Elkus |
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1956
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Comedy in Four Acts | Charlotte B. Chorpenning |
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1958
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Tom Sawyer: A Musical Play | Jack Urbont |
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1958
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Tom Sawyer: A Play | H. B. Sharp |
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1963
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: An Ageless Comedy for Children & Grown-ups Alike in Three Acts | Wilbur Braun |
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1963
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Play with Music | Robert A. Gibson |
|
1965
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Tom Sawyer's Treasure Hunt, (dramatized from Samuel L. Clemens' Tom Sawyer) in four acts | Charlotte B. Chorpenning |
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1969
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Tom Sawyer: A Play in Four Acts | Mark Twain |
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1974
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The Boys in Autumn | Bernard Sabath |
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1975
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Tom Sawyer | Sarah Marie Schlesinger & Michael Dansicker |
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1976
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Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Play | Derek Lomas |
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1976
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Tom Sawyer | John Charlesworth and Tony Brown (Eric Wayman, music) |
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1977
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Tom Sawyer: An Operetta | Gwendolyn Skeens |
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1978
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Samuel L Rosen |
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1978
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The
Trial of Tom Sawyer
|
Virginia Glasgow Koste |
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1983
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Tom Sawyer: A Comedy in Two Acts | Tim J. Kelly |
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1984
|
Tom Sawyer |
?
|
|
1989
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Tom Sawyer: Opera in One Act | Richard Owen |
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1990
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (A Full Length Play Adapted from the Novel by Mark Twain) | Dave Barton and Matt Bond |
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1994
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Tom 'n Huck | Craig Sodaro |
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1995
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Tom Sawyer: A Musical Adaptation of the Mark Twain Classic | Mary Donnelly and George L.O. Strid |
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1997
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Adventures of Tom Sawyer | John Worth |
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2001
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer [Broadway production] | Ken Ludwig et al. |
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2007
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Timothy Mason |
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2007
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Reader's Theater Classics/ Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer/ Whitewashing the Fence | Jeanette Sanderson |
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2008
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Tom Sawyer | Ric Averell |
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2013
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Mark Twain Presents The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Mike Parker |
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2013
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Laura Eason |
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2014
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Further Adventures of Tom and Huck and Other Plays | Don Nigro |
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2014
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Tom Sawyer & Company: A Mini-Musical Based on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Mark Cabaniss |
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2014
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Tom Sawyer: A Chamber Opera Vocal Score | Philip Martin |
|
?
|
Tom Sawyer (Musical) | Austin O'Toole |
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ADVENTURES
OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN
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||
|
1934
|
Huckleberry Finn: A Comedy for Young & Old | Roy F. Lewis |
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1936
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Huck Finn, Detective | Roy F. Lewis |
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1940
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Huckleberry Finn: A Comedy Adapted from Mark Twain's Book of the Same Name | Pauline Phelps |
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1940
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Comedy in Three Acts |
Charles George
|
|
1942
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Huckleberry Finn: A Comedy in Three Acts | Jane Kendall |
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1948
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Huckleberry Finn: Taken from the Mark Twain Novel | Frank M. Whiting & Corinne Rickert |
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1949
|
Huckleberry Finn |
?
|
|
1954
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Huck Finn | George Herman |
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1957
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Livin' the Life [Off-Broadway production ] | DaleWasserman & Bruce Geller |
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1968
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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Musical Play | Joseph Georg Caruso |
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1970
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Huckleberry Finn: A Comedy in Three Acts | Ann Coulter |
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1974
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Huckleberry Finn (in three parts) | Bob Lewis |
|
1978
|
Huckleberry Finn |
?
|
|
1981
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Great Big River (By the Mississippi) [regional revival of Livin' the Life] |
?
|
|
1983
|
Huck & Jim on the Mississippi |
?
|
|
1985
|
Huckleberry Finn |
Tony
Brown, Eric Weyman, & John Charlesworth
|
|
1985
|
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Raymond Alwin-Hill |
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1986
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Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn-A Musical Play | William Hauptman & Roger Miller (music) |
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1988
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Huck Finn's Story | Aurand Harris |
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1990
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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Randal Myler |
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1996
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Huckleberry Finn | Joanne Suter |
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1998
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Play | Matthew Francis |
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1999
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Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn : A True Telling of Huck's Adventures | Rita Grauer & John Urquhart |
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2008
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (A Play) | Timothy Mason |
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2014
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Huckleberry in Love | Michael Johnson |
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A
CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT
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||
|
1927
|
Connecticut Yankee [Broadway production] | Herbert Fields (book), Richard Rodgers (score), & Lorenz Hart (lyrics) |
|
1941
|
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court: A Comedy in Three Acts | John G Fuller |
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1943
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Connecticut Yankee [Broadway production} | Herbert Fields (book), Richard Rodgers (score), & Lorenz Hart (lyrics) |
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1950
?
|
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (radio) | NBC University Theater |
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1956
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Radio Plays of Famous Stories ... [includes Tom Sawyer & Connecticut Yankee] | Lewy Olfson |
|
1987
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Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court: Play | Tim Kelly |
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1990
|
A Connecticut Yankee: The Musical | Tim Kelly & Larry Nestor (music) |
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1996
|
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court | Brad Korbesmeyer |
|
2010
|
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court | Johnny Simons |
|
2017
|
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court | Jeffrey Hatcher |
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THE
PRINCE AND THE PAUPER
|
||
|
1889
|
The Prince & the Pauper | Abby Sage Richardson |
|
1920
|
The Prince & the Pauper [Broadway production] | Amelie Rives |
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1938
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The Prince & the Pauper: Romantic Play in Three Acts: Dramatized from Samuel L. Clemens' Novel of the Same Name | Charlotte B. Chorpenning |
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1963
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The Prince & the Pauper: A New Musical | Verna Tomasson et al. |
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1970
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The Prince & the Pauper: A Full-Length Play | Anne Coulter Martens |
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1974
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The Prince & the Pauper: A Musical for Youth | Gwendolyn Skeens & Deborah Newman |
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1983
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The Prince & the Pauper: A Musical Play | Patricia Sternberg |
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1985
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The Prince & the Pauper: Musical | Lyndon Jones & Mick Loftus |
|
1995
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The Prince & the Pauper | Auran Harris |
|
1995
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The Prince & the Pauper: A Musical Comedy | Lewis Hardee |
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2005
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The Prince & the Pauper: A New Musical | Neil Berg & Bernie Garzia |
|
2006
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The Prince & the Pauper: A Musical Play Based on the Book by Mark Twain | Quintus Benziger |
|
2007
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The Prince & the Pauper: A Play | Andrew Beattie |
|
2012
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The Prince & the Pauper [London West End production] | Jemma Kennedy |
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PUDD'NHEAD
WILSON
|
||
|
1895
|
Pudd'nhead Wilson [Broadway production] | Frank Mayo |
|
1958
|
Pudd'nhead Wilson | Wilbur Braun |
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1958
|
Pudd'nhead Wilson: A Comedy-Drama in Three Acts | Alice Chadwicke |
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OTHER
WORKS INCLUDING
ORIGINAL PLAYS BY MARK TWAIN |
||
|
1874
|
Colonel Sellers | Gilbert B. Densmore & Mark Twain |
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1877
|
Ah Sin | Mark Twain & Bret Harte |
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1954
|
Mark Twain's A Doubled Barrelled Detective Story: A Mystery-Comedy in Three Acts | Robert St. Clair |
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1966
|
The Apple Tree (Adam & Eve diaries) [Broadway production] | Jerry Bock et al. |
|
1972
|
Mark Twain's The Diary of Adam & Eve (A Play in One Act) | Mark Bucci |
|
1976
|
Five One-Act Plays by Mark Twain | Jules Tasca |
|
1979
|
Twain by the Tale: A Two Act Revue of Mark Twain Stories, Sketches, & Monologues (A Play) | Dennis Snee |
|
1980
|
Man with a Million: A Three-Act Play | James L. Seay |
|
1986
|
Quaker City Holy Land Excursion: An Unfnished Play | Mark Twain |
|
1987
|
Stage Plays from the Classics (includes Tom Sawyer, Connecticut Yankee, and "The One Million Pound Bank Note") | Joellen Bland |
|
1991
|
Tom Sawyer, Detective; from the Story by Mark Twain | Joseph George Caruso |
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1999
|
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg | James Glossman |
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2003
|
Is He Dead? [original play] | Mark Twain (Shelley Fisher Fishkin, ed.) |
|
2007
|
Is He Dead? [Broadway production] | Mark Twain, David Ives |
|
2009
|
American Tales: A Musical in Two Acts (includes "The Loves of Alonzo Fitz Clarence and Rosannah Ethelton") | Ken Stone & Jan Powell (music) |
|
2014
|
Mark Twain's Diaries of Adam & Eve: An Original One-Act Play, Inspired by the Short Fiction | Norman Kolpas |
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