R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots)


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.3 stars; 55 reviews)

Helena Glory, as the daughter of a major industrial power's president, is a woman on a mission. She faces the island factory of Rossum's Universal Robots, the world's leading company in robotic engineering. She is convinced that these new creations called robots they make are deserving of rights like humans do. Everyone else is convinced robots are nothing more than tools for human use. Is it so, or is a robot rebellion becoming a more likely prospect as the robots start to seem more intelligent than first thought?

First performed in English in 1922, R.U.R. is most notable for being the play that introduced the word "robot" into the English language and one of the popular early examples of the science fiction genre onstage. (Mary Kay)Cast List:
Narrator: John Trevithick
Helena Glory / Robot Helena: Sarah Terry
Harry Domin / Primus: ToddHW
Dr. Gall: Barry Streifert
Mr. Fabry: James Callaghan
Dr. Hallemeier / Consul Busman: SteveToner
Mr. Alquist: Beth Thomas
Nana: KHand
Radius: T. Layne
Sulla / First Robot: Tina Nuzzi
Marius / Fourth Robot: Rosslyn Carlyle
A Servant: Etel Buss
Second Robot / Third Robot: Kitty Kay / Mary Kay (1 hr 47 min)

Chapters

Preface and Act 1 37:56 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Act 2 32:08 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Act 3 22:34 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Epilogue 14:47 Read by LibriVox Volunteers

Reviews

Thouroughly enjoyed it


(5 stars)

One hundred years later this play seems more actual than ever. Then it might have reflected history, now it seems to reflect the progress of technology. The absence of technical details makes it more durable.

R.U.R.


(0 stars)

The production values hardly matter, since the Selver translation of "R.U.R." is so awful. Get the Novack translation, either in "Toward the Radical Center: A Karel Čapek Reader" (Catbird Press) or as a Penguin Classic.

This story didn't work for me


(2 stars)

I am not sure what it was, the mix of voices or the storyline, but I found it choppy and hard to follow. I also found the character of Helena annoying and whiney (the part, not the voice actor, who did a nice job). No complaints about the recording or the voices because those were fine, but I just didn't like it.

A short but very enjoyable play


(5 stars)

Although quiet short this is a very enjoyable play to listen too. I especially enjoyed the fact it was read by different readers for all the major parts and I also liked that there was an interesting philosophical point behind the text too. Thankyou to all involved in this recording.

Commander Data approves


(4 stars)

Pretty nice, if you got the Star Trek Next Generation reference in the title, good for you! If you just reread the title to try to find it, then HAHA I caught ya!

Well done


(4 stars)

I just finished listening to this RUR and I enjoyed it very much. The editing is smooth and I could hear just about every line just fine. Well acted/read by all the librivox volunteers.

Launched a Genre


(5 stars)

An amazing launch of an entire genre of science fiction - updating Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for the industrial era and previewing fears of current times. The voice actor of Helena was excellent.


(4 stars)

This play is old but not so old in content. The predictions made by the author are amazing sometimes. Someone can rewrite it exploring the perils of capitalistic technology of our time.