R.U.R. by Karel Čapek

Fresh off a completely sold out run of The Shark is Broken, Springs Ensemble Theatre (SET) continues its sixteenth season with R.U.R. by Karel Čapek, adapted and directed by SET member Matt Phillips. Performances run November 6 to 23, 2025, at Springs Ensemble Theatre in the 59er Speakeasy in Old Colorado City.

R.U.R. first electrified audiences in 1921, with its vision of synthetic workers rising up against their creators. A century later, as artificial intelligence dominates headlines, this chilling and timely drama asks urgent questions about the value of human labor and the limits of progress. To see the future, sometimes you have to look to the past. Before there was "Blade Runner", before there was Asimov's "I, Robot", before there was Lang's "Metropolis", there was...R.U.R.: See the start of AI.

In the play, a young woman visits the island factory where humans are manufactured. While investigating the origins of this artificial working class, she is drawn into a revolution that challenges the very definition of humanity.

Director and adaptor Matt Phillips brings a bold new vision to this landmark work that coined the term “robot.” A graduate of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs and a young local theatre artist, Phillips is in his first year as a member of Springs Ensemble Theatre. His adaptation strips away mechanical stereotypes and highlights the human themes at the heart of the play.

“R.U.R. is not just a story about robots. It is about us, right now, living in a world where technology is advancing faster than our ability to understand its impact. This play asks what it means to be human when efficiency and productivity take precedence over everything else,” said Phillips.