The Wellsboro Community Concert Association is presenting two free performances by Adam Booth, an award-winning storyteller, educator, and musician. 

Registration is recommended at wellsborocca.org or 570-404-0411 to ensure getting a seat to attend one or both of the free shows but is not required. 

On Friday, Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Coolidge Theatre at the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro, Booth will present “The Heron’s Journey.”  He created this original tale about self­ discovery and self acceptance that combines spoken storytelling with quilting and paper sculptures.

“I wanted to create a story that spoke to the idea of difference and how to come to terms with being different,” Booth said.

In developing his storytelling performance of “The Heron’s Journey”, Booth envisioned birds flying over the audience, and enlisted a paper sculptor to help bring his vision to life. He had a quilt made that plays a significant role in the performance and worked with a choreographer so he could more realistically depict bird-like movement as he tells the story.  

Filled with magic, challenges to opposition, and transformation, the audience will meet the title character Lake in various forms of self-discovery and take part in giving the story wings.

“The Heron’s Journey” was selected for the 2024-2025 Mid- Atlantic Arts Touring Roster. As a nationally touring artist, Booth’s professional appearances include premiere storytelling events across the United States at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, the International Storytelling Center, the National Storytelling Festival, the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, the Appalachian Studies Association Conference, the National Storytelling Conference, the National Academy of Medicine, and as a Spoken Word Resident at the Banff Centre (Alberta, Canada). 

On Saturday, Dec.14 at 10 a.m. in the Coolidge Theatre at the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro, Booth will tell stories appropriate for children and their parents. “I will choose stories at the time of the event based on the audience. The stories will be traditional Appalachian stories and will likely include wonder tales and journey tales,” he said. 

“The people present on Dec.14 will be asked to participate, sometimes by providing sounds or repeating phrases in the stories, or depending on the tale, volunteer to play a role within the story. Or I might play music in a story and ask the participants to sing.” 

A professional storyteller for more than 20 years, Booth grew up in a multi-generational family of storytellers in West Virginia in a region with a rich heritage and tradition of storytelling.

He is a member of the Recording Academy and his recordings have received multiple national honors, including a Parents’ Choice Gold Award. Booth serves as the inaugural Storyteller-In-Residence at Shepherd University and is the founding artistic director of Speak Story Series, a premier destination for storytelling in concert.