Difference between revisions of "R.U.R."

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(“Rossum’s Universal Robots”) A futuristic play by Karel Çapek (1920). An apocalyptic vision of a revolution by robots which satirizes the contemporary world.
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(Rosumovi Univerzální Roboti - "Rossum’s Universal Robots") A futuristic play by Karel Çapek (1920). An apocalyptic vision of a revolution by robots which satirizes the contemporary world.  
  
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Published in Czech in 1920, the play opened in Prague on 25 January 1921. The English translation by Paul Selver, adapted for the English stage by Nigel Playfair,  was produced by [[Basil Dean]] for the Reandean Company at St. Martin's Theatre, London in April 1923. The play introduced the word "[[Robot|robot]]" to the English language and to science fiction as a whole.
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== Performance history in South Africa ==
 
== Performance history in South Africa ==
  
1928: Three successful performances produced by the [[Johannesburg Repertory Society|Johannesburg Reps]] (according to Du Toit , 1988)
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1928: Three successful performances produced by the [[Johannesburg Repertory Society|Johannesburg Reps]] as their first production. 
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1936: Produced again by the [[Johannesburg Repertory Society|Johannesburg Reps]] in 1936.
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(The Reps productions apparently had an interesting side-effect in South Africa: the term "[[Robot|robot]]" [pronounced "row-bot"] was also applied to the new automated traffic lights that had just made their appearance in Johannesburg in 1929, and rapidly became - and has remained - the standard term for traffic lights in South African English as well as [[Afrikaans]] and other indigenous languages.)
  
1936: Produced by the [[Johannesburg Repertory Society|Johannesburg Reps]] in 1936. (The production had an amusing side-effect in South Africa: the term "[[Robot|robot]]" [pronounced "row-bot" was applied to the new automated traffic lights that had just made their appearance, and rapidly became - and has remained - the standard term for traffic lights in South African English as well as [[Afrikaans]] and other indigenous languages.)
 
  
 
==Translations and adaptations==
 
==Translations and adaptations==
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== Sources ==
 
== Sources ==
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.U.R.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.U.R.
  
 
Du Toit , 1988
 
Du Toit , 1988
  
They Built a Theatre
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Hoffman, Arthur and Anna Romain,  1980. 
  
 
Go to [[ESAT Bibliography]]
 
Go to [[ESAT Bibliography]]
 
== Return to ==
 
 
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Return to [[ESAT Plays 3 B|B]] in Plays III  Collections
 
 
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Return to [[South_African_Theatre/Plays]]
 
 
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== Return to ==
 
== Return to ==
 
  
 
Return to [[ESAT Plays 1 R|R]] in Plays 1 Original SA Plays
 
Return to [[ESAT Plays 1 R|R]] in Plays 1 Original SA Plays
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Return to [[South_African_Theatre/Plays]]
 
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Latest revision as of 09:41, 29 April 2014

(Rosumovi Univerzální Roboti - "Rossum’s Universal Robots") A futuristic play by Karel Çapek (1920). An apocalyptic vision of a revolution by robots which satirizes the contemporary world.

Published in Czech in 1920, the play opened in Prague on 25 January 1921. The English translation by Paul Selver, adapted for the English stage by Nigel Playfair, was produced by Basil Dean for the Reandean Company at St. Martin's Theatre, London in April 1923. The play introduced the word "robot" to the English language and to science fiction as a whole.


Performance history in South Africa

1928: Three successful performances produced by the Johannesburg Reps as their first production.

1936: Produced again by the Johannesburg Reps in 1936.


(The Reps productions apparently had an interesting side-effect in South Africa: the term "robot" [pronounced "row-bot"] was also applied to the new automated traffic lights that had just made their appearance in Johannesburg in 1929, and rapidly became - and has remained - the standard term for traffic lights in South African English as well as Afrikaans and other indigenous languages.)


Translations and adaptations

1939: Translated into Afrikaans by M.C. Botha and produced by Volksteater in 1939, directed by Napier de Bruyn.

1947: Produced in Afrikaans by K.A.T. in Cape Town, directed to acclaim by Napier de Bruyn.


Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.U.R.

Du Toit , 1988

Hoffman, Arthur and Anna Romain, 1980.

Go to ESAT Bibliography


Return to

Return to R in Plays 1 Original SA Plays

Return to R in Plays 2 Foreign Plays

Return to South_African_Theatre/Plays

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page