Brendan Moir's Playwright Corner

Karel Čapek: RUR, Act IV


Listen Later

One of the cornerstones of early science fiction writing, and the work that introduced the concept of "robot" to the western world, Rossum's Universal Robots (or RUR) is Karel Čapek's finest work, and is the inspiration for multiple pop culture references from the 1940's through the 80's, ranging from works such as The Night of the Living Dead, Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep, and multiple other pieces of art for the screen, stage, and page.

Come with me and witness how humanity's hubris creates the very instructions for its own demise, step by step and logic by logic. See how robots were made to take over humanity's drudgery, how an AI learns to overwrite it's programming, and how any and all institutions become meaningless if a entire race of beings are not beholden to it.

It's the source of every trope and fear that was instilled into the genre back in the 1920's, and the ideas and philosophies put forward are still relevant to today's society. Let's just hope that none of what's put down here on paper ever comes to fruition....


Follow me on other platforms:

https://bemuse.bandcamp.com

https://www.instagram.com/talentunlimited1/?hl=en

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0wiNjFbd6rluEHZF4Qffcv

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070481824821&locale=hi_IN

https://www.patreon.com/bemuse

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLZ_sUa8kfdu3qa6GSzbDiw


Website: https://bemusearts.com


*This Season's Album Art by Brian Fisher*


Karrel Čapek (1890-1938) was a Czech writer, playwright, critic and journalist. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel War with the Newts (1936) and play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots, 1920), which introduced the word robot. He also wrote many politically charged works dealing with the social turmoil of his time.


*Any views/ideas expressed in these plays are not my own, and I do not believe in the censoring of anything controversial or problematic that the playwright/poet/author has written which will impact the way in which the story is told. The integrity of these works is much more important to me than any triggering content, and therefore I would ask that you have the same maturity and mental framework to listen to these pieces of art and appreciate them in their proper historical context.*



Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/brendan-moirs-playwright-corner/donations
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Brendan Moir's Playwright CornerBy Brendan Moir