R.U.R (Rossum's Universal Robots) at Capital Hill Arts Workshop

The Original Robot Apocalypse Story. Really. Humans have invented intelligent robots that look just like them to do all their menial tasks. That is, until the robots revolt. Who saw that one coming? Famous for being the first use of the word “robot”—this play invented all the tropes. Rossum has developed a method to create human-like robots, and a factory is built on a remote island to crank out enough robots to meet demand. Around the world, robots quickly replace humans in what are considered menial tasks: assembly lines, domestic labor, secretarial work, etc. A young woman journeys to the island to free the robots, but in her naive enthusiasm, becomes deeply embroiled in the fate of the robots, and ultimately, the fate of the human race. R.U.R. is a sci-fi melodrama before the genre existed.