Miffle

In the performance program, the director writes the following: "We who have worked with the performance about Toffle, find that the story is also about how very important it is to know that someone finds one useful - and that this is a great story to tell! And we think ourselves lucky for having been allowed to work with Tove Jansson's wonderful world."

Miffle was played by Marianne Edvardsen.

Sceneweb refers to the other puppets registered in the database from the same production. They are Toffle (Norwegian: Knøttet), The Hemulin (Norwegian: Hemulen) and Mrs. Fillyjonk (Norwegian: Filifjonk). 

SOURCES:

Helgesen, Anne M.: Animasjonen - Figurteatrets velsignelse og forbannelse. Norsk Figurteaterhistorie (literally: Animation - The blessing and curse of puppetry. Norwegian Puppetry History). Dr. Art. thesis in theatre theory, 2003, UiO. 

Oslo Nye Teater (Oslo New Theatre). Performance program

Donated by: Oslo Nye Teater (Oslo New Theatre). Knut Wiulsrød.

Transported 06.06.2020.

The head of Miffle (Norwegian: Nurket) was cut from Styrofoam, fortified with cotton gauze and glue, and covered with thin glove leather. Next, the face was coloured with dry pastel, with markings made in marker pen. Miffle's rich head of hair was likely made from fur. The glove puppet was made of an undersleeve adjusted to the puppeteer's hand, and a shaped, looser oversleeve/costume.The fabric was cotton, soft for the sake of the hand'smobility. The puppet had five fingers, as opposed to the more common four.

Miffle was constructed as a glove puppet with its hand position adjusted to the puppeteer's technique. The most common position of fingers in a glove puppet places the index finger in the puppet's head, the middle finger, the ring finger and the little finger as its right hand, and the thumb as its left hand. Acting with glove puppets is miniature theatre, and precision is required to achieve communication with the audience.

Anne Helgesen writes the following: "In 1999, Oslo Nye Teater (Oslo New Theatre)'s puppetry theatre again got an artistic director who was found outside of the ensemble, and who had no prior experience with working on puppetry, the instructor Anne-Karen Hytten. Hytten wanted to give the ensemble new impulses while learning from the ensemble's experience with puppetry. (...) Under Hytten's direction, it was decided to move the puppetry venue from Oslo City Museum at Frogner Manor, as the facilities had become too small and not practical, to a former tram hall in the borough of Torshov. The venue opened February 18 2003." (2003: 374-375).