The play, set by Čapek “in the future,” takes place at the island manufacturing facility of Rossum’s Universal Robots, which produces synthetic humanoid laborers who are rapidly taking over the world’s jobs. Nomad’s adaptation moves the setting to a nebulous past on an alternate Earth. There, Helena Glory, representative of an organization called the Humanity League, pleads her case for the humane treatment of robots to Rossum’s CEO, Harry Domin. Although Domin and his managers are initially resistant to Helena’s cause, one eventually breaks ranks to join her in helping the robots, even to their own detriment.

A prescient tale about artificial intelligence, as well as an examination of class and what it means to be human, R.U.R.: Rossum’s Universal Robots remains as relevant as when it was first performed over 100 years ago in the aftermath of World War I and the advent of mass production.