When was R.U.R. published by Karel Čapek?
Karel Čapek published the first edition of R.U.R. in 1920 and a revised version in 1921. The world premiere took place on the 2nd of January 1921 in Hradec Králové.
Questions about R.U.R.
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who invented the word robot for Karel Čapek's play?
Josef Čapek invented the name robot in an article for Lidové noviny while his brother Karel wrote the script. The Czech term robota means forced labour performed by serfs on their masters' lands with the root word rab translating to slave.
What year did the American premiere of R.U.R. occur at the Garrick Theatre?
The American premiere occurred at the Garrick Theatre in October 1922 running for 184 performances. Mary Crane Hone made her Broadway debut playing robot Helena while Spencer Tracy and Pat O'Brien also debuted as robots in this production.
How many languages had translated versions of R.U.R. reached by 1923?
By 1923 translations existed in thirty languages across Europe and North America. This rapid spread included English editions published by Oxford University Press and Doubleday that same year.
Why do the robots in R.U.R. differ from mechanical automata?
The robots described in Karel Čapek's play are artificial biological organisms mistaken for humans rather than mechanical devices. Factory descriptions include kneading-troughs for robot skin and great vats for liver and brains where nerve fibers arteries and intestines spin on factory bobbins.