Karel Čapek, Democracy and the Human Condition

Cultural and political contexts surrounding the British and American reception of Karel Čapek’s R.U.R. (1921) and The Insect Play (1921)
About this Event

This lecture examines the cultural and political contexts surrounding the British and American reception of Karel Čapek’s R.U.R. (1921) and The Insect Play (1921), written by Karel and Josef Čapek. In Britain and the United States, both innovative plays were received not only as expressions of the latest developments in modern drama, but also as representations of the newly established Czechoslovakia and its culture.

Rather than treating their circulation simply as the transfer of dramatic texts, the lecture follows the plays as complex theatrical forms, reshaped through translation, adaptation, performance and scenography. It focuses on their political, ethical and anti-colonial dimensions and asks what they reveal about democracy and the human condition.