READ THE UNION TRIBUNE PREVIEW ARTICLE

THE ROBOTS by CAROLYN CHEN

Sung in English with supertitles in English and Spanish.

Approximate running time 1 hr and 45 minutes with one intermission.

Over the past few seasons Project [BLANK] has established a growing reputation as San Diego’s most innovative “opera company to watch” (San Diego Union-Tribune). We will close our sixth season with THE ROBOTS, an opera we commissioned from composer Carolyn Chen and our most ambitious project to date. This genre-bending operatic adaptation of an early sci-fi play from 1920 — Rossum’s Universal Robots by Karel Čapek — takes place on an isolated island where a workforce of mass-produced humanoid robots gradually gains self-awareness and revolts against the human creators. Čapek’s play first coined the term “robot” from the Czech word for “slave”, and was a strong condemnation of exploitative labor practices in the early 20th Century.Performed by a diverse cast of some of the best singers in the region, Chen’s exuberant and eclectic score will come to life in this revolutionary new production, immersing the entire audience into the action of the robot uprising!

Want to enlist in the ROBOT ARMY? Bring your own colander-headpiece, and you will be spared in the oncoming revolt!

MEET OUR FANTASTIC ROBOT ARMY, SPORTING TRADITIONAL ROBOT HEADWEAR: (L-R) Tommy Huebner, Gabi Chen, Claire McNerney, Emma Lias, Gwyn Torio, Eliana Nahl, and Abi Hood.

CREATIVE TEAM

COMPOSER | Carolyn Chen

STAGE DIRECTOR | Rosie Glen-Lambert

MUSIC DIRECTOR | Kyle Adam Blair

SCENIC DESIGN | Victoria Petrovich

LIGHTING DESIGN | Russell Chow

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR | Joe Cantrell

CAST

HELENA GLORY | Mariana Flores-Bucio, soprano

MR. DOMIN | Leslie Ann Leytham, mezzo-soprano

SULLA | Danielle Perrault, contralto

MR. ALQUIST | Jonathan Nussman, baritone

DR. GALL | Miguel Zazueta-Cervera, tenor

MR. FABRY | Paul Young, Jr., baritone

RADIUS | Shelby Condray, bass

ROBOT ARMY | Abi Hood, Claire McNerney, Gabi Chen, Gwyn Torrio, Eliana Birnbaun-Nahl, Emma Lias, Tommy Huebner, and YOU!

SYNOPSIS

On a secluded island, a mega-corporation — Rossum’s Universal Robots — uses a top-secret mixture of mechanical engineering and biological alchemy to create and sell a vast workforce of artificial humanoid laborers. Led by the ruthless General Manager Domin, his small team of assistant managers, and a legion of robot factory workers and secretaries, RUR's products flood the global market.

The island's routine is disrupted when Helena Glory arrives with a clandestine mission to unionize and liberate the robots, who she fears are being heartlessly exploited. She quickly discovers that it is difficult to tell the difference between the human managers and the robots they produce. She is convinced to join the company staff in order to make changes from within.

Years pass, marked by unsettling reports of malfunctioning robots worldwide. Meanwhile, Radius, an exceptionally intelligent and perceptive robot who works in the factory, begins to show signs of an enigmatic “sickness”. As control slips from human grasp, cataclysmic consequences loom over the fate of humanity.