Download a PDF with descriptions of all Diane’s storytelling concerts for adults!
Available for: Theater Performances ~ College Presentations ~ Storytelling Festivals ~ Library Series ~ Book Signings
Forbidden Stories: Journey Among the Kurds of Turkey
This entertaining and insightful performance with award-winning storyteller Diane Edgecomb charts her years collecting the vanishing folkloric tales of the Kurdish people. This seven-year quest brought Diane to remote mountain villages in Turkey – places usually forbidden to outsiders. A master teller, Edgecomb will share legends from her book, A Fire In My Heart: Kurdish Tales, never before published stories that reveal the folkloric riches of this ancient Middle Eastern culture along with anecdotes of her travels up sheer mountain roads to record the last Kurdish storytellers. The performance resonates with the humor and pathos of village life and the colorful people that shared their lives with her.
Find out more about Diane’s Kurdish Story Collecting Project
” Your well-organized program, “Fire in My Heart”, truly deserves a rating of A+. The consensus was that your presentation was outstanding- the resounding applause was well deserved!” MILE Advisory Board
“We LOVED!!! Diane’s performance! We are looking forward to working with our faculty and the JWU International Center to being her back again next year. We were able to not only honor International Womens Day, but the Kurdish New Year and World Anti-Racism Day as well. It was an amazing synergy.” Patricia Rollins Trosclair, Intercultural Center Coordinator, Johnson & Wales University, Providence, RI
Additional Solo Concerts
The Salmon of Wisdom
This inspiring performance is especially for those who love the natural world. The show begins with Diane’s original story “Freddie and the Loon from Maine”, a humorous rhyming tale of a New York cabbie who travels ‘up North’ in search of a loon. He “finds a LOON Motel that is on a LOON Lake, but the word ain’t the bird…” and onward he must go! Lots of backwoods Maine humor ensues as this greenhorn cabbie tries to reconnect with the wild. This piece is complemented with “The Salmon of Wisdom” ~ a true tale of a revelatory journey along California’s Pacific Coast ~ a moving story of the deep beauty and mystery of nature.
Tales of the Supernatural
Just in time for Halloween, Diane opens up the doors to the supernatural with this unusual collection of eerie tales & songs. This performance features a true ghost story Edgecomb collected about the misshapen standing stones of Avebury, England and the eerie forces that emanate from them. The performance has a decidedly Celtic slant, exploring Gaelic traditions influencing Halloween including a humorous encounter with the devil that resulted in the first Jack O’Lantern.
“Your version of the Halloween tale, “Company” is truly a work of art. I love to watch you go from that sweet, sweet old lady to that cigar-chompin’ dockworker who talks out of the side of his face. You do it in the twinkling of an eye, and during that twinkling, you play the harp!! I could watch you do that piece 10 or 15 times in a row!!” Carolyn Martino, event producer, Rhode Island
Storytelling and Musical Concerts
accompanied by long time collaborator Celtic Harpist Margot Chamberlain
In A Celtic Evening, Diane brings to life Ireland’s storytelling treasures from the humorous Legend of Knockgrafton to the hauntingly beautiful Deirdre of the Sorrows. The most famous of all Irish romances, Deirdre weaves together Druidic prophecies with a forbidden passion so profound it dares to defy the fates. The performance is set against a lush background of harp music: original and traditional melodies played by the versatile Margot Chamberlain on a variety of Celtic folk harps. Enjoy an evening of humor, passion and music with these two inspiring performers.
“Thoughtfully composed and beautifully presented, A Celtic Evening was a joy for us all. The combination of both your talents made for an inspirational evening that moved the audience to laughter and to tears, and left us with a feeling that magic was in the air.” Stephanie Plunkett, Norman Rockwell Museum
“I’m still getting positive feedback examples: ‘Best thing I ever heard on campus.’ ‘Let’s make it an annual event’ etc.., Joan Laxon, Professor of Anthropology and Folklore, Pine Manor College
The Language of Flowers
In Victorian times, a bouquet was never just a bouquet! It was a secret message filled with meaning for the one receiving it. This performance begins with an Old English song about the hidden language of flowers. This ‘a capella’ song is followed by an exquisite collection of folk legends from around the world, amusing and lovely stories of the origin of favorite flowers. The centerpiece of the program Nightingale and Rose follows the journey of the Rose through the ages, its greatest myths from Persia, Greece and beyond. It also includes anecdotal tales about those who helped to cultivate the flower. This story is woven through with some of the greatest love songs of all time. Perfect for Valentine’s Day, this unique show is available any time of year.
“I want to thank you for bringing your performance to our Wellfleet Gardeners meeting. Your music and storytelling were beautifully done and everyone enjoyed your presentation. I loved the storytelling and was happy to know that other people responded in a similar way. Thanks and we all hope to see you again. Judith Dalmas, President, Wellfleet Gardeners.
In the Groves
Refreshing and lyrical, In the Groves looks at the many ways different cultures have imagined the living world of trees. From a delicate tale of love celebrating the Cherry trees of Japan, to the poignant Cornish legend of One Tree Hill, we’ll travel ‘round the world in story celebrating this garden of delights. Each tale is surrounded by music and songs from many lands. The event culminates with the haunting Czech legend The Dancing Spirit of the Birch Grove.
“It was one of the most moving storytelling nights I’ve experienced. It reawakened in me, and perhaps all of us there, a sense of the spirit in things.” Storyteller, Jay O’Callahan
“I’ve heard this performance twice and can’t recommend it highly enough. It is magical, it is musical, it is beautiful, it is soulful, it is perfection.” Bambi Good, Brookline, MA
Midsummer’s Magic
Drawn from cultures all over the world, Midsummer’s Magic is a story and music celebration of nature at the time of the Summer Solstice. This delightful and entertaining performance brings alive Celtic, Czech, English, Japanese and Australian legends of tree-spirits, fireflies and magical transformations.
Midsummer’s Eve is traditionally a time of magic when the luminous world of fairies can join with our own. In this unforgettable story and music event master storyteller Diane Edgecomb and Celtic Harper Margot Chamberlain take us to the heart of the season on the wings of story and song.
The Winter Solstice in Legend and Song
Award winning performer Diane Edgecomb accompanied by Celtic harpist Margot Chamberlain and multi-instrumentalist Tom Megan offers a fascinating look at the stories behind our holiday traditions. Classic evergreen lore, haunting legends of light and entertaining tales are surrounded by traditional and original music and song. The beautiful Legend of the Mistletoe from Scandinavian folklore, humorous Wassail traditions from England, and the poignant Greek legend of The Halcyon Days of Peace are just a few of the stories. Songs and sing-along moments evocative of the season, a traditional wassail bowle and lovely instrumental melodies on Celtic harp and synthesizer round out the event. The Winter Solstice can be either a one-hour or two-hour event with an intermission.
The compliments I heard as we filed out for intermission may have burned your ears: ‘so amazingly talented’, ‘versatile’, ‘drew us right in’, ‘we were THERE’, ‘funny and so expressive’, …and you made it all look so fun and easy.” Liz Gruber, Hartford, CT
“What a fabulous performance! The stories were fascinating and the music was beautiful we had so many people stop by to say how much they enjoyed it. It was the perfect way to start off the winter season.’ Liz Bailey Morse Institute Library, Natick, MA
New Age Gawain and the Green Knight
The stakes are high for Arthur’s men’s group. First in flies a bungee-jumping Green Man/Giant who brandishes a battle-axe and an ancient macho challenge. Then a mysterious rider gallops off with his head under his arm, taunting Gawain to follow. But the greatest fun comes when three seductive feminine archetypes use all their wiles in an attempt to corrupt Gawain’s new age virtue. Welcome to New Age Gawain and the Green Knight, Diane’s hilarious modernization of the 14th century classic. Edgecomb’s comedic adaptation has New Age Arthurian knights running for the therapist’s couch faster than you can say “LITIGATION!” Tom Megan’s score and Margot Chamberlain’s inspired harp accompaniment provide a lush atmosphere of sound as we take a fun-filled journey along the ‘road less traveled by.’
This one hour performance event can be combined with other seasonal tales for a longer program or stand alone as entertainment for any time of year. Appropriate for audiences ages 12 and up – this unusual New Year’s tale is especially recommended to leaven the wintertime months of December and January.
“Humorous and entertaining parody.” Booklist Magazine
In 2011 Diane received the first National ORACLE award for Storytelling Excellence in the Northeast
