by Dennis Dalman
A 102-year-old play entitled “R.U.R.,” which portrays the inherent, insidious dangers of artificial intelligence, will be performed at St. John’s Prep School this weekend.
Written by Czech playwright, Karel Capek (pronounced Kah-rell Chah-peck), “R.U.R.” introduced the world to the word “robot.”
The play opened last weekend at the Weber Center at St. John’s Prep, Collegeville. Additional performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17 and Saturday, Nov. 18 as well as a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee performance Nov. 19.
To get to the prep school, drive westbound on Interstate-94, take exit 156, then on the road leading to St. John’s Abbey, watch for the first four-way stop, turn left and drive past the football field on the left. When you come to a T in the road, turn right and you’ll see SJP.
“R.U.R.” is an acronym for “Rossum’s Universal Robots.” Playwright, journalist and critic Capek (1890-1938) coined the term “robot” for that play, though he later credited his brother, Josef, for first using that term. It derives from the Czech word “robota,” meaning forced labor, the kind that serfs/slaves had to perform on their “masters’” lands.
The robots in “R.U.R.” are not clanky metal contraptions but flesh-and-blood creatures that look and act like the human beings that “manufactured” them.
Now considered a classic forerunner of dystopian literature, “R.U.R.” is set by Capek in the then-faraway future year of 2,000 A.D. The first scene of the play takes place in a factory that makes artificial people (robots) created from synthetic organic matter. At first, the flesh-and-blood robots are quite happy to work for their human makers, but discontent and then anger later compel them to revolt worldwide against their masters.
In many ways, “R.U.R” is a dark allegory of the social-political-economic turmoil that was so dominant in Europe at that time, when many revolutionary movements attempted to overthrow governments that oppressed working people who were over-worked serfs/slaves.
“R.U.R” was widely performed in Europe and North America and was hailed as a visionary, sinister dystopian masterpiece. Although in many ways, the play is grim and even disturbing, there are some lighter moments and even some humorous scenes throughout.
Directed by SJP faculty member Brandon Anderson, St. Joseph, “R.U.R.” features a cast of about two dozen actors, many of them performing as the flesh-and-blood robots.
The human and robot roles are performed by Elizabeth Komagum, Kampala, Uganda in Africa; Cecilia Weldon, Sartell; Aksel Henry Newman, St. Cloud; Emma Zaun, Sartell; Annika Dauer, Cold Spring; Levi Van Heel, United Arab Emirates; Tom Fuchs-Pochacker, Melk, Austria; Isaac Miller, Cold Spring; Jaden Weniger, Oowasso, Okla.; Sophie Grandy, Glenwood; Jayde Nazarene BearsTail, Red Lake; Miranda Louis, Paynesville; Grace Hofer, Miller, S.D.; Ethan Whitehead, Waite Park; Annie (Theo) Reisinger, St. Cloud; Christie Odeh, St. Cloud; Cerys John, St. Cloud; Sam Dupuy, Sartell; John Ruzanic, Cold Spring; and Zach Gordon, St. Cloud.
The back-up crew for “R.U.R.” includes Erin Volker (stage manager), St. Cloud; Hannah Fremo (assistant stage manager, sound-board operator), Cold Spring; Christine Metzo (costumes), Brandon Anderson (the play’s director and sound designer), St. Joseph; Will St. Hilaire (lighting designer), St. Cloud; Ben St. Hilaire (light-board operator), St. Cloud; Connor Montoya (front-of-house manager), Waite Park; and Brother Paul-Vincent Niebauer, Order of St. Benedict, (communications and marketing), Collegeville.
The stage crew is comprised of Violet Ditter, St. Cloud; Mady Lussier, Red Lake; Lauren Martinson, Sartell; and Isabel Schwinghammer, St. Augusta.
Two actors rehearse a scene from St. John’s Prep School’s production of “R.U.R.” At left is Jayde Nazarene BearsTail, Red Lake. At right is Emma Zaun, Sartell
Two of the lead charaters in “R.U.R.” have a conversation. The actors are Cecilia Weldon, Sartell (left) and Elizabeth Komagum, a foreign-exchange student from Kampala in Uganda, Africa
Two characters confront each other in a scene from “R.U.R.” The two actors are Amanda Louis, Paynesville (left) and Annika Dauer, Cold Spring.
Two student actors at St. John’s Prep School practice their dialogue during a rehearsal of the play “R.U.R.” At left is Emma Zaun, Sartell; at right is Isaac Miller, Cold Spring.
