''Pictures from the Insects' Life'' () – also known as ''The Insect Play'', ''The Life of the Insects'', ''The Insect Comedy'', ''The World We Live In'' and ''From Insect Life'' – is a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

that was written in

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

by the

Brothers Čapek The Brothers Čapek were Josef and Karel Čapek, Czech writers who sometimes wrote together. They are commemorated both for their literary/artistic works and political activism against oppressive government. Their house is now a cultural monumen ...

(

Karel Karel may refer to: People * Karel (given name) * Karel (surname) * Charles Karel Bouley (born 1962), American talk radio personality known on air as Karel * Christiaan Karel Appel (1921–2006), Dutch painter and sculptor Business * Karel Elec ...

and Josef), who collaborated on 4 stage works, of which this is the most famous. It was published in 1921 and premiered in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

. In the play, a tramp/narrator falls asleep in the woods and dreams of observing a range of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s that stand in for various human characteristics in terms of their lifestyle and morality: the flighty, vain

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

, the obsequious, self-serving

dung beetle Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. All species of dung beetle belong to the superfamily Scarabaeoidea, most of them to the subfamilies Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae of the family Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles). As most species of Scara ...

, the

ants Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

, whose increasingly mechanized behaviour leads to a militaristic society. The

anthropomorphized Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

insects allow the writers to comment allegorically on life in post-

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Translations

The first English version of the play was ''The Insect Play or And So Ad Infinitium'', translated by

Paul Selver (Percy) Paul Selver (22 March 1888 – 6 April 1970) was an English writer and translator. A prolific translator of Czech literature into English, he was best known as the translator of Karel Čapek.Robert M. Philmus, 'Matters of Translation ...

, and adapted by

Nigel Playfair Sir Nigel Ross Playfair (1 July 1874 – 19 August 1934) was an English actor and director, known particularly as actor-manager of the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in the 1920s. After acting as an amateur while practising as a lawyer, he turned ...

and

Clifford Bax Clifford Lea Bax (13 July 1886 – 18 November 1962)Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-Armour, A. C. Fox-Davies, T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1910, p. 106 was a versatile English writer, known particularly as a playwright, a journalist, ...

published in 1923.Peter Kussi, ''Toward the Radical Center: a Karel Čapek reader''. Highland Park, NJ: Catbird Press, 1990. (pp. 410–411) .The Brothers Čapek (1961) "R.U.R and the Insect Play" Oxford Paperbacks, p 106 Another English version of Selver's text was "The World We Live In" by

Owen Davis Owen Gould Davis (January 29, 1874 – October 14, 1956) was an American dramatist known for writing more than 200 plays and having most produced. In 1919, he became the first elected president of the Dramatists Guild of America. He received th ...

in 1933; both of these adaptations are incomplete. Act II of the play was translated by Robert T. Jones and Tatiana Firkušnỷ in 1990 for the book ''Towards the Radical Center: A Karel Čapek Reader''. Peter Majer and Cathy Porter published a complete English translation, titled ''The Insect Play'' for

Methuen Drama A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing ''Who's Who'' since 1849 and the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' between 1827 and 1903. It offers a wide variety of boo ...

in 1999.

Production history

The play premiered in

at the National Theatre in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

, Czechoslovakia. Successful American (1922) and British (5 May 1923) premieres followed.Jarka M. Burien, "Čapek, Karel" in Gabrielle H. Cody, Evert Sprinchorn (eds.) The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, Volume One. Columbia University Press, 2007. , (pp. 224–5). BBC Television has presented the play three times, to varying critical response: first 30 May 1939, in a production by Stephen Thomas;

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

26 May 1939, issue 817 p14 then 28 May 1950 (Selver translation adapted and produced by Michael Barry, with

Bernard Miles Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles (27 September 190714 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in 1959, the first new theatre that opened in the City of London since the 17th century. He was ...

as the tramp);

26 May 1950, Issue 1389 p44 then 19 June 1960 directed by Hal Burton.

17 June 1960 Issue 1910, p3, pp8-9John Wyver, "Twentieth Century Theatre: The Insect Play (BBC, 1960), 14 June 2011.
/ref> It was adapted for radio by Ian Cotterell and broadcast on 1 Sep 1975 on the

BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...

28 Aug 1975 Issue 2703 p31

Critical reception

''The Insect Play'' was often invoked in political discussions in the 1930s.

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author. He is best known for his novels, particularly '' A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910) and '' A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous shor ...

likened the conflict between the

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, f ...

and the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

to "a scene from ''The Insect Play''".

Ethel Mannin Ethel Edith Mannin (6 October 1900 – 5 December 1984) was a popular British novelist and travel writer, political activist and socialist. She was born in London. Life and career Mannin's father, Robert Mannin (d. 1948) was a member of the S ...

, writing in the

anti-Stalinist The anti-Stalinist left encompasses various kinds of left-wing political movements that oppose Joseph Stalin, Stalinism, neo-Stalinism and the system of governance that Stalin implemented as leader of the Soviet Union between 1924 and 1953. This ...

magazine ''

New Leader ''The New Leader'' (1924–2010) was an American political and cultural magazine. History ''The New Leader'' began in 1924 under a group of figures associated with the Socialist Party of America, such as Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas. It w ...

'' of July 6, 1936, described life in

Stalin's Russia Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1922 to 1 ...

as resembling ''The Insect Play''. Discussing ''The Insect Play'', Jarka M. Burien stated "Capek imbued the play with a vitality and color that made it a more fully entertaining theatrical experience than ''R.U.R.''". However, the 1960 BBC TV production was critically reviewed fifty years later, by a critic who called the text "pretentious and incoherent".

Adaptations

Several works have been inspired by the play.

Flann O'Brien Brian O'Nolan (; 5 October 19111 April 1966), his pen name being Flann O'Brien, was an Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland, Irish civil service official, novelist, playwright and satirist, who is now considered a major figure in twentieth- ...

produced a version of the play set in Ireland, ''Rhapsody in Stephen's Green''. This version was thought lost, but a copy of the play was discovered in 1994. Finnish composer

Kalevi Aho Kalevi Ensio Aho (born 9 March 1949) is a Finnish composer. Early years Aho began his interest in music at the age of ten, when he discovered a mandolin in his home and began to teach himself how to play it. He soon was taken under the tutela ...

composed an opera ''Hyönteiselämää'' (''Insect Life'') in 1987, which was submitted to a competition for the

Savonlinna Opera Festival Savonlinna Opera Festival () is held annually in the city of Savonlinna in Finland. The Festival takes place at the medieval Olavinlinna (St. Olaf's Castle), built in 1475. The castle is located amid spectacular lake scenery. Origin The birth ...

. Aho's opera lost to

Paavo Heininen Paavo Johannes Heininen (13 January 1938 – 18 January 2022) was a Finnish composer and pianist. Biography He was born in Helsinki, where he studied at the Sibelius Academy and was taught composition by Aarre Merikanto, Einojuhani Rautavaara, ...

's ''Veitsi'', and was not performed until 1996 with the

Finnish National Opera The Finnish National Opera and Ballet (; ) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the Töölönlahti bay in Töölö, which opened in 1993, and is state-owned throu ...

(for which it received great acclaim). Aho also adapted material from his opera into a

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

, ''Hyönteissinfonia'' (''Insect Symphony''), which premiered in 1988. This work, Aho's Seventh Symphony, features six movements, each a portrait of a different species of insect and reflecting the satirical characterizations of the play. Another opera ''Zo života hmyzu'' (''From the Insects' Life'') based on the play was written by

Ján Cikker Ján Cikker (29 July 1911 – 21 December 1989) was a Slovak composer, a leading exponent of modern Slovak classical music. He was awarded the title ''National Artist'' in Slovakia, the Herder Prize (1966) and thIMC-UNESCO International Music Pr ...

and premiered in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

in 1987. Czech director

Jan Švankmajer Jan Švankmajer (born 4 September 1934) is a Czech retired film director, animator, writer, playwright and artist. He draws and makes free graphics, collage, ceramics, tactile objects and asse ...

directed a film adaptation titled ''

Insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...

''. Before the film was released, Švankmajer stated that it "will combine dark comedy, grotesque, classic horror genre, and both animation and feature acting." The film premiered at the IFF Rotterdam on 26 January 2018 and had a theatrical release in the Czech Republic on 19 February 2018.

References

{{Authority control 1921 plays Satirical plays Allegory Fiction about insects Fiction about talking animals Anthropomorphic insects Plays adapted into films Plays adapted into operas Plays by Karel Čapek