Four Plays: R. U. R. / The Insect Play / The Makropulos Case / The White Plague

by Karel Čapek, Cathy Porter (Translator), Peter Majer (Translator)

This volume brings together fresh new translations of four of his most popular plays, more than ever relevant today. In R. U. R., the Robot - an idea Çapek was the first to invent - gradually takes over all aspects of human existence except procreation; The Insect Play is a satirical fable in which beetles, butterflies and ants give dramatic form to different philosophies of life; The Makropulos Case is a fantasy about human mortality, finally celebrating the average lifespan; The White Plague is a savage and anguished satire against fascist dictatorship and the virus of inhumanity.

Genres: Plays, Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 1999

About the author

Karel Čapek is one of the the most influential Czech writers of the 20th century. He wrote with intelligence and humour on a wide variety of subjects. His works are known for their interesting and precise descriptions of reality, and Čapek is renowned for his excellent work with the Czech language. His play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) first popularized the word "robot".

(Arabic: كارل تشابك) (Hebrew: קארל צ'אפק) (Japanese: 카렐 차페크) (Russian: Карел Чапек)

Reviews

[JD Waggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're looking for happy plays, or plays with things that even remotely resemble happy endings, this is not the collection for you. This is probably not the playwright for you, because let's face it, he's from Eastern Europe. (One of my friends is Czech himself, so I can say these things.)
I did not realize that Capek (the only "c" accent mark I know how to do is ç, sorry; we'll just have to all remember that it has a hacek on top and should be pronounced accordingly) was the father of the idea of robots, as it were--along with most people, I laid that one at the feet of Isaac Asimov or somesuch. But no! It was a Czech! Figures, in a way.
For the plays themselves--R.U.R., the first play here, was probably a 3 star play for me. After reading some other reviews, I'm a little disappointed in some of the translation decisions, but that's my problem for not having learned to read Czech. The entire play felt very close to some of the zombie films we have nowadays, which is bad, because zombies freak me the hell out. But the close-up scenes, the scenes dealing with just a couple of people/robots interacting with each other, were wonderful. I'd love to see someone stage the last couple of scenes when the robots realize they can't go any further.
The Insect Play is just that, which makes me curious how someone would costume it. The illustration on the front cover of this volume is interesting, but I'd love to see what someone could do with it with all the modern sewing accessories and fabrics we've created. The play itself is a straight-up mockery of pretty much every personality type and preoccupation people have, which gets sort of intense sometimes. I mean, yes, we all have our foibles, but surely...then you realize that making something drastically out-of-proportion is the whole point, and then you want to go hug someone nice. I wasn't quite sure what to do with the Traveler character, as I felt that he wasn't contributing much other than the cohesive narrative, and I wanted more from him than that. But the ants in the last act? Priceless, especially these days when we (Americans) are so hung up on the idea that our military is god and we must prove ourselves to the world. Reminded me of one of the Animorphs books, actually, in the calm brutality of it.
The Makropulos Case was probably my favorite of these, partially because seeing the different personas a person can make out of herself is really interesting. Who would you become if you had to start over all the time? And the idea of never dying is such an interesting trope--sure, people fear death, but is outliving everything you love any better? As Gandalf says, death is but the next great adventure.
The White Plague rounds out this collection, and I think it's the bleakest play in the lot. It's brilliant in its portrayal of the idiocy of mob mentality, the connections between the press and the military and the fear of the masses, and the uncaring momentum of war is incredibly well-portrayed. But it's that aptness of description that makes you horrified that this play was written just under a hundred years ago and WE'RE STILL DOING ALL OF THIS. It's this continual relevance that runs through all of these plays that makes them wonderful, and yet so incredibly frightening and, well, depressing as all get-out. I'd love to see what a modern production of one would look like. Hell, I'd like to work on one myself.

[Matt Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason, presumably the translator's heavy handed allegorical pretensions, the classic play, Rossum's Universal Robots, has been renamed Reason's Universal Robots. I don't think the change was necessary and to someone familiar with the work, it grates when I read it. The other plays in the book, The White Plague, The Insect Play, and The Makropoulos Case are all typical Capek fantasy/science fiction. I recommend it highly. As is often the case, it is hard to reconcile the popularity Capek enjoyed when alive with the obscurity in which his memory and reputation now linger.

[Eva Hnizdo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am biased. I love all his writing

[Kc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly timely for having been written in 1938. "The White Plague" packs so much social and political commentary in a fairly short play.

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 2 out of 5]

کارل چاپک نمایشنامه نویس و داستان‌نویس اهل چکسلواکی در سال ۱۸۹۰ بدنیا آمد. نویسندگی را هنگام تحصیل در دانشگاهای سوربن و پراگ آغاز نمود کار مستقل وی با نوشتن داستان مصلوب آغاز گردید در سال ۱۹۲۰ اولین نمایشنامه اش بنام راه زن انتشار یافت.

وی طی دوره جنگ جهانی اول به روزنامه نگاری پرداخت و پی از جنگ از معاشران صمیمی توماش مازاریک بود. انتشار اولین نمایشنامه به نام «روبات‌های عمومی روسوم» سبب شهرت جهانی او شد این نمایشنامه در هجو و انتقاد از تمدن ماشینی است که به زعم وی میلیون‌ها انسان را از کار برکنار خواهد کرد

واژهٔ روبات را او در کتاب کارخانه ربات‌سازی روسوم (.R.U.R) معرفی کرد و مفهوم آن را تبیین کرد. البته مستنداتی مبنی بر نام گذاری کلمه ربات از جزف برادر کارل نیز وجود دارد

وی با همکاری برادر نقاشش بنام یوزف چاپک دو اثر «گودال‌های نورانی» و «باغ کراکونوشا» را منتشر کرد. همچنین در سال ۱۹۲۳ با برادرش «راز ماکروپولوس» را نوشت وی زندگینامه گونه‌ای مفصل از مازاریک نیز نوشته است.

وی در سال ۱۹۳۸ درگذشت.

«کارخانه مطلق سازی» و «داستان‌های جن و پری» نیز از آثار این نمایشنامه نویس است. هر دو کتاب به فارسی ترجمه شده است.

[David Sterritt]

Returning to Karel Čapek via Peter Majer and Cathy Porter’s translation of four plays, I find that “R.U.R.” is somewhat creakier than I remembered, while “The Makropulos Case” is preachy (more than the Janáček opera) and “The Insect Play” is just silly. By contrast, “The White Plague” is quite a timely item, nailing all sorts of pandemic horrors more than 80 years before our own endangered time. Prescient!

[Duncan Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

for a bunch of plays from the 20s that arent performed much anymore, these were actually very decent. Loosely sci-fi they explore themes like war and mortality ingeniously, The White Plague especially prescient. The representation of women quite dated, but merit restaging..

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this about fifty years ago. And I have never forgotten it. Can't think why it's not on my list.

[caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** - makropulous affair
*** - the white plague

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t think of another sci-fi playwright (at least none have survived in popular memory), so Karel Capek (and his brother Josef, who co-wrote some of the plays) has a rather unique niche. His writing is rather plain and the characters a bit flat – it’s not high art. But Capek creates interesting situations and uses them to question our morals and our mortality. These plays are more about ideas than about particular people in particular situations. The emphasis is on the questions raised more so than the fate of the characters. The plays remind me very much of the best Twilight Zone episodes.

These are not great, world-changing drama. If you have a liking for sci-fi/social commentary and drama, you’ll probably enjoy these. If not, you won’t miss much by skipping them.

R.U.R. *** – Capek, or his brother at least, is credited with inventing the word Robot in this play. This features the now-typical “rise of the robots” tale, but with a bit of a twist at the end. I don’t think it was the cliché it has become today. The dialogue is a bit bland and the portrayal of Helen is sexist (beautiful, weak and helpless). Also, is she sexually assaulted at the end of the first act?

Note: This edition calls it Reason’s Universal Robots, but everyone else calls it Rossum’s Universal Robots. No explanation is given. “Reason” makes things a bit confusing in my opinion. (Is Rossum the Czech word for Reason?)

The Insects **** – This is by far the most fully formed, artistic play of the set. It is still a play of ideas, but the story and characters are richer. Although a comedy, it is a dark play about human goals and mortality. Each act features a different set of bugs with a different view on life and death. I’d love to see this staged.

The Makropulos Case *** – This is another lesson on our mortality. This play, though, features the very interesting character of Emilia Marty and her haughty indifference to everything human. Though the theme is again dark, it has some humor and this has been described as a comedy.

The White Plague *** – Everyone across the world over fifty years old is dying of a form of leprosy called the White Plague. One doctor in a warrior state (i.e., turn-of-the-20th-century Germany) finds a cure – but he demands the end of war before he will share it with the rich and well off. Unfortunately for him and mankind, things go awry.

[Laura Hänninen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The White Plague

[Fernando Pestana da Costa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book joints together four Čapek plays, of which I previously new only the famous "R.U.R". But the other three are also very good. I wish a Portuguese theater company (maybe an independent one) would decide to produce some of them! In the meanwhile, one is left with the book...

[Wilbur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! A prophet. Written by 1938, read as if they were done today.