NHTP Presents The Winter Solstice In Story & Song

Back by popular demand, New Hampshire Theatre Project will once again celebrate the winter solstice with master storyteller Diane Edgecomb, Celtic harper Margot Chamberlain, and multi-instrumentalist Tom Megan.

Join us on the longest night of the year for haunting legends of light, entertaining tales and traditional music and song. Spoken word and theatre artist Diane Edgecomb brings to life the ancient myths that reveal the deep meaning behind winter holiday traditions. Featured stories include the Scandinavian Legend of the Mistletoe, the Greek myth The Coming of the Days of Peace, the Cherokee tale of Evergreen, and humorous English Wassail traditions. Margot Chamberlain and Tom Megan accompany the tales with instrumental melodies along with traditional and original songs evoking the warmth of the season.

One of the most versatile voices in storytelling today, Diane Edgecomb's startling adaptations of traditional tales arch from a rollicking New Age version of Gawain and the Green Knight to classic retellings like the Irish myth, Deirdre of the Sorrows. Her dynamic style of telling, in which she fully embodies the characters and scenes, bringing each moment alive, won her the first national ORACLE AWARD for Storytelling Excellence in the Northeast. Publisher's Weekly called Diane "...a virtuoso of the spoken word...an entire cast rolled into one!" A featured teller on NPR, at the National Storytelling Festival and the International Storytelling Center, Diane is also the author of A Fire in My Heart, the first book of Kurdish folktales ever to be published in English. The personal story of her journey to the mountainous Kurdish region of Turkey to gather these folktales is entitled A Thousand Doorways and has been featured at theatres throughout the Northeast and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Tom Megan accompanies The Winter Solstice performance on piano, penny-whistle, synthesizer, guitar and accordion! He has written several full-length musicals and is a winner of numerous awards for the musical stage, including the prestigious 2013 Richard Rodgers Award. Celtic harper Margot Chamberlain has accompanied storyteller Diane Edgecomb since 1989, and also performs with The Christmas Revels, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and in many other venues. As a GentleMUSE, she also plays harp for staff and patients at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.