This is how Karel Čapek describes the genesis of The Absolute at Large, the first of his anti-utopian novels. The themes he explored in his writing – the dangers of technological advances, war, blind lust for power, or religious fundamentalism – remain surprisingly topical today. In fact, it is this relevance that inspired us this dramatization.
Johan Březka, Přírodní Škola
The Absolute at Large
A performance by the Přírodní Škola secondary school
21. 2. 18:00
Station hall
The Přírodní Škola secondary school gave a well-attended theater performance in the train station hall.
Author: Karel Čapek
Script: Johan Březka
Directed by: František Prokop, Johan Březka
Preface
One spring day, at four in the afternoon, I finished writing RUR; with relief I put down my pen and went out for a walk. At first I felt a pleasant sense of release at having got a chore over with; but this sense then developed into one of emptiness and I gradually became aware that I was unbearably bored. I told myself that the day had been spoiled, so it would be best if I went home and wrote an article for the paper.
Karel Čapek, October 1926