Mo' Momotaro.

My Grade Sixers are getting ready to perform Momotaro, the folk tale of an old couple who find a boy in a peach (as was the custom at the time) and he grows up to fight some demonic Oni. (Click that link to familiarize yourself with the story.) The students have spent the last while making masks and practicing and the first group finished their performances today. Here are some of their masks.

This mask of Peach-Boy is one of my favourites, most of them are relatively standard.

It is reminiscent of Basil Wolverton. Who is that you may ask? Watch this and see.



Here are a few plain versions of the lad.

The masks of the Old Man and Woman are fairly dull, most kids just copied the couple from the textbook. When they vary, I'll show them off, such as these two.

Momotaro is accompanied by a monkey, a dog and a pheasant who really only tag along because he has fed them a kibidango. Here is a typical version of the trio.

And then they begin to differ from the text...

I encouraged them to use different animals and some of the kids got inventive.

The final cast members are the Oni. These creatures are both menacing and comical.

In addition to a giant peach, the students drew Onigashima (Oni Island), the home of the demons. Each island is slightly different, depending on the artists' whims.

I probably won't have any more performances until the new year. More pics then.