Marvin Fox

The Animals in the Hunchback Wood was the first production of Oslo Nye Teater (Oslo Nye Teater)'s puppetry theatre. It was performed at the theatre's main stage, and the stage floor was "moved down so that the six performers were almost hidden by the ramp, a low screen covered their heads, and so the puppets performed at approximately the same height as human actors would have done. Nothing was skimped on, not puppets nor backdrops." (Helgesen 2003:351).

The role of Marvin Fox was played by Kalle Haakonsen. As a character, Marvin is and keeps being one who tries to outsmart the others. 

Sceneweb refers to the other theatre puppets registered from the production. These are Climbing Mouse, Morten Woodmouse AKA Morty Forest Mouse and Mister Hare, the baker. 

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. 

Ånd i hanske, no. 2, 1993

Wang, Ragnhild and Vibeke Helgesen: Den magiske hånd. Dukkespill og figurteater gjennom tidene (literally: The magic hand. Puppetry throughout the ages). Pax forlag, Oslo 2000.

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

Transported 13.03.2020.

The head of Marvin Fox was, according to tradition, shaped in clay, after which it was cast in a clay mould with newspaper or cotton gauze and glue. An undersleeve was made of soft cotton adjusted to the puppeteer's hand, for the sake of control of the puppet during the performance. The oversleeve or costume was a sweater with broad stripes, and a pair of 'pants' made in a soft material. Marvin wore a little cap on his head. Details are important in the design of a glove puppet. Small margins decide if the puppet is of use in performance, and experienced as expressionate by the audience.

Marvin Fox was a glove puppet built "with foam rubber lining and prolonging cuffs for the arms, to make them larger than traditional glove puppets" (Anne Helgesen: 2003:351). It is likely that the pattern for these puppets was based on Czech traditions, like in former productions at Folketeatret. The pattern was brought to Norway by Birgit Strøm after a residency in Prague in 1952-53.

Nationen wrote the following about the production: "Fun Climbing Mouse at the puppetry, excellently directed by Alfred Solaas. For the first time, we experienced puppetry from an entire stage, with the audience in the auditorium itself". (Helgesen, Anne: "Mikko Matti og et vell av venner" (literally: Mikko Matti and a lot of friends), Ånd i hanske, no. 2, 1993: 11-12).

"Admittedly, the ensemble was used to a lot of praise and positive reviews, but the interest from the audience reached the top for real. More than 30 000 saw the play the first winter at the theatre, and 10 000 tickets for the next autumn were sold half a year in advance - 160 performances in all." (Wang and Helgesen, 2000:203).