The fox and the wolf

Julian Strøm led the puppetry theatre at Folketeatret from 1953, through difficult years with restructuring of the activity, often travelling or touring. In 1966, Oslo Nye Teater (Oslo New Theatre)'s puppetry department could finally move into facilities of its own at Oslo City Museum, Frogner Manor. At the time, his daughterBirgit Strøm took over the management of the puppetry theatre. 

Jon Dørsjø writes the following: "As fresh weather, he enters the school room. Directly from the folktales' strange world he comes, clad in a national costume from Heddal, the wayErik Werenskiold drew The Ash Lad. (...) In sudden throws and soft transitions both, he is the whole character gallery at once, the Ash Lad and Per and Pål, princesses and maids, farmer's wife and tenant's wife and trolls and sexton and priest. And with fine nuances, he places them within the mind the action and fairytale demand." Dagbladet 13.01.51, quoted in Ånd i hanske, No. 2, 1993.  

Sceneweb refers to the other puppets registered from the production. These are the hares, and Mikko Matti. 

SOURCE:

Ånd i hanske no. 2 1993, Dørsjø, Jon: Askeladden inn i skolestua (literally: The Ash Lad into the school room).

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

Transported 02.04.2020.

Because of the lack of sources, this description is based on photos. It is not clear which was the fox and which was the wolf, but the fox is likely the one to the left in the photo, with the wolf looking through the window. It is not of great significance which is which.

The materials used to make the puppets would mostly be the same. The heads were likely shaped from clay and casted with newspaper or cotton gauze and glue. Papiermâché may also have been used in shaping the heads, as this material results in an uneven surface, as is visible in the photo. The facial features were painted on, and the standing ears were made from a stiff material.

The body of one of the puppets is visible in full. It looks as if the wolf's body was sewn from a wool fabric. A large, messy tail of yarn was fastened along the whole of its back. Each of the two puppets likely had an undersleeve adjusted to the puppeteer's hand.

The heads of the puppets were either cast from a clay mould, or they were shaped from papiermâché. It is likely that the puppet designer Nordrå found inspiration in puppets made by Jane Mykle for earlier productions at Folketeatret. She usually cast puppet heads from a clay mould.

The heads of the wolf and the fox were relatively large, and thus heavy to perform with. Certainly, the puppets demanded that the puppeteer kept in shape. According to the cast list, the fox was played by Kjell Kjær and the wolf by Julian Strøm. The two were the crooks of the play, and according to several reviews, they were met by loud reactions from the auditorium.