Art Form: Theatre

Supplies Needed

-Thank You, Omu book

Vocabulary

Character - a person in a story or play, or an
animal or object that has human qualities

Vocal Expression - the way an actor uses their
voice to portray a character or to convey feelings, often involving choices about pitch or volume

Pitch - how high or low/deep an actor’s voice is
to portray a character

Volume - how loud or soft/quiet an actor’s voice
is to portray a character

Posture - how an actor stands or positions their
body to portray a character

Instructions

1. Read the book, Thank You, Omu. Look at Omu and the three characters that first come to Omu’s door – the boy with the red car, the police officer, and the hot dog vendor.

2. With a family member or friend, decide who will be Omu and who will be the boy with the red car. Each actor should think about how to change their voice and what posture to adopt to become their character.

3. Reread the page where the boy comes to Omu’s door. Reread what they say to each other. The actor playing the boy can go to a doorway and knock. Then, act out the scene, using your vocal expression and posture choices to be the characters.

4. Repeat the process for the pages with the police officer and the hot dog vendor. You can switch roles so that each actor gets to play both Omu and a visitor.

5. Find simple costume pieces or props (a shawl for Omu, a toy car for the boy, a cap for the police officer, an apron for the hot dog vendor) to use to add to the scene.

Extensions

Choose three more characters from the page with all the other people that came and enact scenes when they came to Omu’s door. Try to make each character’s voice and posture different. Do they talk fast or slow? Do they have an accent or a particular way of talking?

Choose a character and think about how they know Omu. Act out when they met. What would they say to each other? What would they say to each other if they met somewhere else?