R.U.R. by Karel Capek

CHARACTERS

General Manager of Rossum's Univeral Robots

a Robotess

a Robot

Head of the Physiological and Experimental Department of R.U.R.

Engineer General, Technical Controller of R.U.R.

Head of the Institute for Psychological Training of Robots

Architect, Head of the Works Department of R.U.R.

General Business Manager of R. U. R.

a Robot

a Robotess

a Robot

PLACE: An Island. TIME: The Future.

GALL is looking out of the window, through closed shutters. ALQUIST is seated down right.

DR. GALL. Yes. There standing like a wall, beyond the garden railing. Why are they so quiet? It's monstrous to be besieged with silence.

DOMIN. I should like to know what they are waiting for. They must make a start any minute now. If they lean against the railing they'll snap it like a match.

DOMIN. We couldn't hold our own for five minutes. Man alive, they'd overwhelm us like an avalanche. Why don't they make a rush for it? I say--

DOMIN. I'd like to know what would become of us in the next ten minutes. They've got us in a vise. We're done for, Gall. (Pause.)

DR. GALL. We made the Robots' faces too much alike. A hundred thousand faces all alike, all facing this way. A hundred thousand expressionless bubbles. It's like a nightmare.

DOMIN (looking through a telescope toward the harbor). I'd like to know what they unloading from the Amelia.

HALLEMEIER. We've barricaded the passage and the stairs. Any water here? (Drinks.) God, what swarms of them! I don't like the looks of them, Domin. There's a feeling of death about it all.

FABRY. The electrical installation. Now we can run the current all along the garden railing whenever we like. If any one touches it he'll know it. We've still got some people there anyhow.

FABRY. In the electrical works. At least I hope so. (Goes to lamp on table behind sofa and turns on lamp.) Ah, they're there, and they're working. (Puts out lamp.) So long as that'll burn we're all right.

FABRY Downstairs in the office. He's working out some calculations. I've called him. We must have a conference.

[HELENA is heard playing the piano in the library. HALLEMEIER goes to the door and stands, listening.]

R.U.R.

(Rossum's Universal Robots)

by

Karel Capek

A Fantastic Melodrama

CHARACTERS

Act III

THE SAME AFTERNOON


R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Capek A Fantastic Melodrama CHARACTERS HARRY DOMIN. General Manager of Rossum's Univeral Robots SULLA, a Robotess MARIUS, a Robot HELENA GLORY DR. GALL, Head of the Physiological and Experimental Department of R.U.R. MR. FABRY, Engineer General, Technical Controller of R.U.R. DR. HALLEMEIER, Head of the Institute for Psychological Training of Robots MR. ALQUIST, Architect, Head of the Works Department of R.U.R. CONSUL BUSMAM, General Business Manager of R. U. R. NANA RADIUS, a Robot HELENA. a Robotess PRIMUS, a Robot A SERVANT FIRST ROBOT SECOND ROBOT THIRD ROBOT PLACE: An Island. TIME: The Future. Act III THE SAME AFTERNOON HELENA'S drawing room as before. DOMIN comes into the room. DR. GALL is looking out of the window, through closed shutters. ALQUIST is seated down right. DOMIN. Any more of them? DR. GALL. Yes. There standing like a wall, beyond the garden railing. Why are they so quiet? It's monstrous to be besieged with silence. DOMIN. I should like to know what they are waiting for. They must make a start any minute now. If they lean against the railing they'll snap it like a match. DR. GALL. They aren't armed. DOMIN. We couldn't hold our own for five minutes. Man alive, they'd overwhelm us like an avalanche. Why don't they make a rush for it? I say-- DR. GALL. Well? DOMIN. I'd like to know what would become of us in the next ten minutes. They've got us in a vise. We're done for, Gall. (Pause.) DR. GALL. You know, we made one serious mistake. DOMIN. What? DR. GALL. We made the Robots' faces too much alike. A hundred thousand faces all alike, all facing this way. A hundred thousand expressionless bubbles. It's like a nightmare. DOMIN. You think if they'd been different-- DR. GALL. It wouldn't have been such an awful sight! DOMIN (looking through a telescope toward the harbor). I'd like to know what they unloading from the Amelia. DR. GALL. Not firearms. [FABRY and HALLEMEIER rush into the room carrying electric cables.] FABRY. All right, Hallemeier, lay down that wire. HALLEMEIER. That was a bit of work. What's the news? DR. GALL. We're completely surrounded. HALLEMEIER. We've barricaded the passage and the stairs. Any water here? (Drinks.) God, what swarms of them! I don't like the looks of them, Domin. There's a feeling of death about it all. FABRY. Ready! DR. GALL. What's that wire for, Fabry? FABRY. The electrical installation. Now we can run the current all along the garden railing whenever we like. If any one touches it he'll know it. We've still got some people there anyhow. DR. GALL. Where? FABRY. In the electrical works. At least I hope so. (Goes to lamp on table behind sofa and turns on lamp.) Ah, they're there, and they're working. (Puts out lamp.) So long as that'll burn we're all right. HALLEMEIER. The barricades are all right, too, Fabry. FABRY Your barricades! I can put twelve hundred volts into that railing. DOMIN. Where's Busman? FABRY Downstairs in the office. He's working out some calculations. I've called him. We must have a conference. [HELENA is heard playing the piano in the library. HALLEMEIER goes to the door and stands, listening.] ALQUIST. Thank God, Madame Helena can still play.

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