Janne Kärki : Yksinäytöksinen huvinytelmä by Lauri Haarla

Janne Kärki by Lauri Haarla is a one-act comedic play written in the late 1920s. Set in a rural Finnish village by a riverside grove, it lampoons flirtation, social ambition, and small-town money troubles as a quick-tongued shopboy pursues a supposed wealthy widow through bluff, disguise, and schemes. The plot follows Janne, an overconfident shop assistant who jilts his seamstress fiancée Lyyli to court the glamorous Mary Tillon (really restaurant worker Marja Tillanen), while the miller’s son Heikki, the jealous pap’s son Vilander, the dandy apothecary Bitter, and the henpecked shopkeeper Vintturi swirl around in rivalries and misunderstandings. Janne even dons a lady’s clothes to dupe Vilander, then helps Mary trick Vintturi into signing a “receipt” under the pretense of handwriting divination. A planned serenade contest dissolves into farce, and Vintturi’s formidable wife Vieno crashes in to expose Mary and Lempi Sirkiä (a telephone operator) as impostors, brandishing reputations and bills. The masquerade collapses: Bitter and Vilander slink off, Vintturi is marched home, Mary and Lempi leave after settling debts, Heikki hurries to reconcile with his true love Suoma, and a chastened Janne is forgiven by Lyyli. The play closes with a wink at vanity, easy money, and “cleverness” that costs more than it gains. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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About this eBook

Author Haarla, Lauri, 1890-1944
Title Janne Kärki : Yksinäytöksinen huvinytelmä
Original Publication Helsinki: Kustannus Oy Näytelmä, 1929.
Credits Juhani Kärkkäinen and Tapio Riikonen
Language Finnish
LoC Class PH: Language and Literatures: Finno-Ugrian and Basque languages and literatures
Subject Comedy plays
Subject One-act plays
Subject Finnish drama -- 20th century
Category Text
EBook-No. 78466
Release Date
Copyright Status Public domain in the USA.
Downloads 556 downloads in the last 30 days.
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