A visionary Czech production returns almost a century after its Dublin debut.
On the evening of Saturday 8th November 2025, an extraordinarily challenging double-bill of experimental performance-based theatre works will be presented by the National Theatre of the Czech Republic at the Helix Theatre, in Dublin City University’s Glasnevin campus. The two featured works will be Robot Radius and In Our Hands, each being just over one hour in duration.
Most notable for their visually-arresting screen projections, this pairing of non-verbal mime, movement and dance-based works comes from the repertoire of the renowned Laterna Magika theatre in the Czech capital of Prague. Translated into English as The Magic Lantern, Laterna Magika is considered to be the world’s first multimedia theatre. Conceived of to be one of the elements of Czechoslovakia’s cultural programme at the Brussels Expo of 1958, it was launched officially as an independent company of the Czech National Theatre on the 9th of May 1959. Its permanent home is now at the New Stage of the National Theatre in Prague.
Laterna Magika productions fuse film projection and dramatic acting with modern dance, ballet, mime, music and the Czech’s pioneering Black Light Theatre, the latter having been founded in 1961 by Jiří Srnec. Their productions are original and unique, and one of the company’s most regularly performed theatre pieces is Wonderful Circus, which premiered in 1977 and which has remained in the repertoire ever since. Rooted in the interaction between screened images and live action, the company’s creations have been regularly augmented with new technologies, now embracing digital projection and new media, including real-time programmable software.
Both Robot Radius and In Our Hands address contemporary issues facing humankind, including the rise of AI and AGI technology, and confront the ideological dilemmas of scientific development that threaten the human race. They address the increasingly sophisticated and morally questionable developments in modern robotics engineering, as well as the challenges posed by the ever-increasing existential threats that arise from human-driven climate change and global biodiversity loss as a result of the degradation of flora and fauna habitats.
Robot Radius
Robot Radius is an experimental performance piece based on the science fiction play R.U.R. – Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti / Rossum’s Universal Robots, which was written by the Czech writer, playwright, critic and journalist Karel Čapek (1890-1938) when he was thirty years old. Čapek, a Catholic humanist, was born in Malé Svatoñovice, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and now in the Czech Republic. At the age of fifteen he was expelled from school for founding an illegal students’ club, but went on to graduate four years later with exceptional grades. He attended the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin, the Sorbonne in Paris and the Charles University in Prague, graduating in 1915 as a Master of Philosophy.
In 1917, Čapek joined the editorial board of the Narod (Nation) magazine, shortly after which he took up an editorship of the cultural section of the Narodni listy (the National paper), and the startup satirical weekly Neboja (The Unafraid).
In the summer of 1920, Čapek published his first important work, the play R.U.R. – Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti / Rossum’s Universal Robots. It was in this work that the now-popular word ’robot’ was first coined. Throughout the 1920s, he developed a strong aversion to ultra-nationalism and totalitarianism, expressing his opposition to these movements through politically-influenced works, including Ze Života Hmyzu (Pictures from the Insects’ Life) and Krakatit, both from 1922, the latter predicting the development of nuclear weaponry.
During the 1930s, Čapek’s writings focused on the rise of fascist ideologies and the unwelcome advent of national dictatorships. His Talks with T. G. Masaryk (Masaryk was the first President of Czechoslovakia) and his anti-Nazi plays Bílá nemoc (The White Disease) from 1937 and Matka (The Mother), from 1938, were extremely popular. Despite being labelled by the Nazi Gestapo as Czechoslovakia’s “public enemy number two” he refused to leave his homeland. He died of pneumonia on Christmas Day of 1938.
R.U.R. – Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti / Rossum’s Universal Robots had its Irish premier on the 1st May 1929, when it was presented by the Gate Theatre Company on the Peacock Theatre stage of the Abbey Theatre, and was successfully revived by the company in 1931.
Today, Čapek is considered one of the pioneers of European political science-fiction and a forerunner to authors such as George Orwell and Ray Bradbury and film makers such as Fritz Lang, especially for the dystopian machine-age depicted in the latter’s ‘Metropolis’ of 1923. Echoes of his warnings regarding the uncontrollable development of technology can be seen in films such as Terminator, 2001 – A Space Odyssey, I, Robot and Blade Runner.
In relation to Robot Radius, a succinct description of the company’s intent reads as follows: “The legacy of the great writer and humanist is brought to life on our stage through the prism of 21st century artists. Life on Earth is all but extinct and the planet is now run by abiotic technologies. One last person has survived – a scientist, who is to complete the transformation from physical into digital man. The doubts he harbours are perhaps the final thing that links his mind to the essence of human existence, which he voluntarily renounces. Yet it may not be the case, and the taking of the decision will be an evolutionary leap leading to the rise of new humanity.”
Experimenting with augmented reality and applying motion-capture technology, Robot Radius will be performed solo by the mime, choreographer and director Radim Vizváry. In January 2021, he was appointed artistic director of the Laterna Magika ensemble. His on-stage movements, performing the Robot, transfer to the screen in real time via sensors fixed on his body, allowing him to directly manipulate the picture. Guitarist Michal Pavlíček’s live accompaniment is also interactive, triggering or changing the images that have been created. The screenplay and stage direction is by Miřenka Čechová, costumes are by Marek Cpin, music and sound design are by Michal Pavlíček & Martin Tvrdý, visual dramaturgy is by Amador Artiga and the digital technology is controlled by Jan Hladil & František Pecháček.
Robot Radius was created in collaboration with the Office of the Commissioner General for the Participation of the Czech Republic in EXPO 2020 in Dubai. Vizváry was asked to adapt Čapek’s play R.U.R. for two reasons. The first was that 2021 marked the centenary of the drama’s premiere in Prague; the second was that mime removed language barriers. This fascinating production, based on a play that was seen in Dublin nearly one hundred years ago, is well worth witnessing and poses questions that we all need to consider as we move into an uncertain future for personal freedom and independent thinking.
Robot Radius runs for one hour with no intermission. The recommended audience age is 14+
In Our Hands
For the second of the two Laterna Magika presentations, renowned Australian director and choreographer Darcy Grant leads an international team of dancers and performers that includes Cécile Da Costa, Zhilee-Julie Goetzová, Vanda Hejnová, Eliška Hulínská, Toman Equilibre, Jindřich Panský, Matyáš Ramba, Matěj Srovnal and Adam Holub.
In Our Hands premiered at the National Theatre in Prague on the 12th December 2024. This very new work reflects the current artistic concerns of the company and enhances its repertoire and its reputation through its collaboration with internationally renowned artists. The statement that accompanies the production outlines its objectives:
“What do we really have in our hands? Whether tender in a loving embrace, skillful in planting flowers or strong in a gesture of power, it is the hands that transform human thoughts into actions and ideas into works of art. In our fingertips and palms we thus hold the power to affect and change the state of affairs, our surroundings, and even the world. Yet, what form do we actually shape the world into? In Our Hands is an accolade to non-verbal communication as the key to understanding the world and ourselves. The dynamic fusion of physical theatre, acrobatics, parkour, and live music invites the audience on a journey where each and every gesture becomes a message and an instigation to take a fresh look at what we really have in our hands.”
In Our Hands runs for one hour and fifteen minutes with no intermission. The recommended audience age is 12+
Words: Kieran Owens
Robot Radius and In Our Hands will be performed at The Helix, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, on Saturday 8th November. Doors: 7pm.
Tickets: thehelix.ie
