We missed this before it opened, but thanks to SF Signal, we haven’t completely missed the run of Karel Capek’s R.U.R. in the Strawdog Theatre in Chicago. Capek’s 1920 play holds a very important place in the history of science fiction: it introduced the word “robot” to the world (based on the Czech word for laborer). The plays initials stand for Rossum’s Universal Robots.
The Strawdog Theatre Company describes the play thus: “Forget clunky metal boxes, these robots are genetically engineered humans with the troublesome parts, like needs and desires, omitted. The men of R.U.R. live alongside their constructs on a remote island, closely guarding their secret formula while supplying the world with all the cheap labor it can stand. It runs like clockwork until a beautiful young robot rights activist arrives via her father’s private boat.
“Shade Murray, director of Strawdog’s Jeff Award-winning Detective Story and Marathon ’33 once again breathes new life into a forgotten gem, a funny and fast-paced character piece that happens to blow the lid off a whole mess of deep metaphysical questions. What is life? What is love? You won’t find out on the web site.”
The Strawdog Theatre is at 3829 N Broadway, Chicago, Illinois, and runs through 25 October (performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM and Sundays at 7PM. Tickets are $20 ($15 for students and seniors). For more information or tickets, call 773-528-9696 or see this web page.
The play originally premiered in 1921 in Prague, and was first performed in New York in 1922. An English translation was published in 1923. The Czech version is availble from Project Gutenberg here. An English translation, by David Wyllie, is available here.