R.U.R.

Is there anybody who doesn't know that Karel Čapek's 1920 Czech play R.U.R.gave the world the word "robot'? It's what the second "R" stands for -- the long version of the title is "Rossum's Universal Robots." And for nearly a hundred years, the play has been considered a classic, translated into every major language on the face of the planet.

So why have modern productions of R.U.R. have become few and far between? Well, as the years have gone by, directors and producers have come to find the expressionist style of the script to be a turnoff. They don't like the two-dimensional characters and exaggerated action. To make matters worse, they are often further distanced from the work by the awkwardly-formal language of the most literal English translations.

Lauren Griffin as Callida and Wes Seals as Alquist in the UAB premiere

So in my adaptation of Čapek's masterpiece I have tried to bring the play's characters and language into a more modern vernacular than in the literal translations. And I've tried to be as faithful as possible to Karel Čapek's intentions while updating the details of the ethical issues raised, and -- above all -- approaching the story as a more realistic piece of science fiction with more fully-rounded characters.

Humans face the end of the world in RUR A tense moment in the world premiere production of the new adaptation. The UAB cast on Kelly Allison's remarkable set. (The central portion of the set -- everything you see here -- was built on a turntable which "opened and closed" the entire set between scenes.)

This new adaptation was first produced at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, with a rotating set, video projections, and a score of original electronic music. The production was enthusiastically praised by the reviewer assigned by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

Much of the success of the first production was due to the original music and sound effects by Dr. Michael Angell, the scenery and lighting designed by Kelly Allison, and the costumes designed by Kimberly Schnormeier. But many who were familiar with other English translations of the play felt it was the script that made the show work, and some even predicted the new adaptation could become the definitive American performance text of Čapek's play.

admiring Robot Sulla in RUR Helena and Domin admire Sulla, the prototype for the next generation of Rossum's Universal Robots. Actress Jody Rivera won an Irene Ryan Award Nomination for her portrayal of the robot Sulla in the UAB production.

HELENA
First I have one more question for you, if you don't mind.

DOMIN
Good -- I have one for you too.

HELENA
I am almost afraid to ask this, but something about the way Hallemeier spoke to Sulla just now ... does the human appearance of the G2 robots extend to -- well --

DOMIN
Yes, they have working sex organs.

HELENA
And the females are all as attractive as Sulla, I imagine. Whose idea was that?

helena-alquist Victoria Barrett as Helena and Andy Godwin as Alquist in the 2005 Appleseed production in Syracuse, New York, designed and directed by William Edward White.

DOMIN
I honestly don't remember, but I doubt any of us objected.

HELENA
Have you considered that perhaps you've all been on this island too long?

DOMIN
All the jokes that can be made about this have already been made. Believe me. And you're not thinking this out all the way. Remember all the dangerous and degrading professions we've already done away with by replacing human workers with robots. Coal mining. Firefighting. Sewer maintenance! Right? Robots with lifelike sexual response could mean -- well, what if no human being was ever again tempted -- or forced -- to sell their bodies, to rent themselves out for the sake of somebody's else's ... it's what the R.U.R mission has always been and will always be: to build a world in which no human being is ever again treated as a -- a thing, an object!

HELENA
And will you sell them to the armies of the world? I'm sure they would be the perfect soldiers --

DOMIN
No --

HELENA
-- intelligent, strong, and blindly obedient?

DOMIN
No. That we will not do. We'll call them "Universal" robots, but there will in fact be one thing they will not do. They will not be allowed to kill. They'll serve us, they'll care for our sick, they'll do our most dangerous jobs for us ... but they will never hurt us. Any of us. And who knows? Maybe as the years go by, we'll learn from them ....

RUR at Bulverde Helenova and Primus comfort the dying Alquist (cast here as female and proving this to be a viable option) in a performance by "S.T.A.G.E., Inc." directed by Steve Wire at the Texas Nonprofit Theatres 2007 Conference.

RUR at Clintondale No Photoshop trickery needed! In this production directed by Todd Swanboro and featuring students at Michigan's Clintondale High School, Alquist (Kyle Androyna) is threatened by two identical robots played by identical twins Becky and Mandy Ramm. Bravo to Swanboro for seeing the potential in having natural clones play unnatural clones, and to these two ladies for going along with it. The group scored high enough in their district theatre competition to go on to regionals, where they earned the coveted Superior rating with this production...