Osebo's Drum: A Tale about Good Character
(Suitable for grades K - 6)
As a Parents’ Choice Award winning storyteller, Robbi K's spirit is clearly contagious, and the entire audience is soon singing and clapping along with Osebo's Drum. There's interactive movement, singing, chanting, and humor as Robbi sets the scene for this traditional African "Pour Quoi?" folktale about a tiny turtle who uses kindness and thinking to succeed. Robbi moves about the stage and room constantly, appealing to the audience as she acts out the many characters.
Osebo the Leopard has built a huge and magnificent Djembe drum that everyone can hear. But Osebo won't permit anyone to try the drum, not even Nyame, who is Sky-God. Nyame promises that anyone who can bring Leopard's drum to him will receive a wonderful reward for teaching the leopard a lesson about his greedy, disrespectful ways. Then Nyame waits.
Many animals try to get the drum but Osebo's sharp claws and teeth, and terrible growl, scare them all away. Finally, the Tortoise tries. She is small and soft-shelled, and would love to wear a harder shell to protect herself. Other animals tease her because of her size, but Achi-cheri tries anyway. She tricks Leopard. Nyame laughs at the lesson that the little tortoise has taught a big, bragging leopard. As a reward, Nyame gives Achi-cheri the strong, hard shell that the tortoise wears to this day.
Osebo's Drum is presented with Robbi as a solo performer, or with African percussionist for main stage family programs as well as school aged audiences. This program is suitable for grades K-6, runs approx. 45 minutes, and recommended audience size is 225 students.
Curriculum connections include multi-cultural studies, literature, character education, and drama. Osebo's Druml art form includes music, drama, and storytelling. State standards addressed in the work are ELA and SS.
Benefits to students and teachers and State Standards:
- Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art: Students will respond critically to works in the arts, connecting the individual work to other works and to other aspects of human endeavor and thought.
- Understanding the Cultural Dimensions and Contributions of the Arts: Students will develop an understanding of the personal and cultural forces that shape artistic communication and how the arts in turn shape the diverse cultures of past and present society.
