Originally released 5/29/20. Transcribed live from California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennesee, and Texas… Project Audion presents a recreation of the 1937 Columbia Workshop broadcast of “R.U.R: Rossum’s Universal Robots.”

Pete Lutz of Narada Radio Company, director of this radio drama, says this about his choice of show: “I love the historical sense of the story. Here’s Carel Kapek, in 1920 or 21, foreseeing AI, prophesying humans’ dependence on technology. Of course, robots themselves, thank the gods, haven’t been perfected to the same extent. But there are so many wonderful elements in the story: all the men on the island are in love with Helena, and this unrequited love felt by Dr. Gall leads to their downfall. The robots evolve in different ways, though: some become murderous, yet two show more humane tendencies: love, compassion, sacrifice. I first heard the BBC’s radio adaptation of this, which was about two hours long. Then I found the script we use here and felt that the main points of the story were covered sufficiently in a half-hour. It’s exciting, dramatic, and sentimental. Columbia Workshop had geniuses working for them.”

Project Audion is a collection of voice actors from across North America who are recreating classic shows from Radio’s Golden Age via videoconference .