Karel Čapek’s R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) is the science fiction drama that gave the world the word “robot.” First performed in 1921, this visionary play confronts the paradox of technological progress and the moral dilemmas it creates. In an age of artificial intelligence, automation, and existential unease, R.U.R. remains uncannily prescient, at once a theatrical marvel and a chilling prophecy.
Set in a futuristic factory that mass-produces artificial beings designed to serve humanity, the play follows Helena Glory, an idealistic humanitarian, and Harry Domin, the ambitious director of Rossum’s works. What begins as a triumph of industry becomes a reckoning: the manufactured workers awaken to their condition, and the line between maker and made collapses. At once a parable and a political statement, R.U.R. is not simply about robots. It is about what we lose when we outsource humanity itself.
This definitive English edition invites a new generation of readers to rediscover the origin of one of science fiction’s greatest ideas, in the classic translation by Paul Selver and Nigel Playfair that carried Čapek’s wit and warning into the English language.
Karel Čapek (1890–1938) was a Czech writer best known for introducing the word “robot” into global language through this groundbreaking play. Born in Bohemia, he studied philosophy in Prague, Berlin, and Paris and became one of the most influential voices of interwar Europe. His work, blending science fiction with satire and philosophy, tackled the moral consequences of technological progress, authoritarianism, and human identity. A passionate defender of democracy and a vocal critic of fascism and communism, he held to liberal values even as Europe plunged toward war. His other celebrated works include The Insect Play and War with the Newts.
