Release date is 2025-05-17

Tapio Riikonen

"Roistoväkeä eli Ylemmistä ja alemmisto : Huvinäytelmä viidessä näytöksessä." by TH. Overskou is a comedic play written in the mid-19th century. It satirizes social climbing and the tensions between “upper” and “lower” classes in Copenhagen, centering on the cash-strapped clerk Johannes Vagtel, his status-conscious wife Kristine, their idealistic son August, their wealthy ward Mathilde Ström, the blunt book-peddler Pehr Qvit, the seaman Palle Blok and his daughter Grethe, the ambitious official Fredrik Dahl, and the oily Baron Lillie. Love across class lines and hypocrisy around money, respectability, and funerals drive the humor and conflict. The opening of the play shows Vagtel and his wife squabbling over money before a social evening, while Vagtel recalls how his forthright friend Qvit secured him the post of treasurer for a burial fund and rails against wasteful customs, especially lavish funerals. Grethe, the Blok family’s daughter working as the Vagtels’ maid, is harshly treated by Kristine; Qvit and August defend her, and August quietly confesses his love, which Grethe returns. Palle Blok arrives to ask leave for Grethe to come home to celebrate a small windfall; after comic maneuvers—including Palle’s advice on taming a domineering spouse—Kristine relents, and we glimpse Fredrik Dahl’s awkward, concealed ties to Grethe and his growing regard for Mathilde. By the end of the first act Vagtel still hunts for money to fund the household’s appearances. Early in the second act, Baron Lillie pesters Grethe until Mathilde intervenes; Mathilde denies any wish to marry the baron and hatches a plan to visit Grethe’s family incognito, while Fredrik and Mathilde exchange constrained, revealing courtesies and Grethe warns Fredrik to skip the evening because someone there might recognize him—the tension cutting off mid-conversation. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Originally published: Hämeenlinna: Hämäläisen Osakeyhtiö, 1878