Introduction & Overview of The Insect Play by Josef Čapek

The Insect Play Introduction

Karel and Josef Capek's The Insect Play is one of the pair's best known and well-received collaborations. Also known as The Insect Comedy, The World We Live In, and From Insect Life, the play was published in its original Czech in 1921 as Ze zivota hmyzu- The play was first performed at the National Theatre in Brno, Czechoslovakia, on March 8, 1922 (some sources say February), running for about one hundred nights. The Insect Play made its American debut later in 1922, and its London premiere the following year. The play has been performed only intermittently since that time because of the demanding staging it requires.

The brothers Capek began work on the play in 1920. Their first collaboration after an eight-year hiatus, it would also be one of their last. The Insect Play was a combination of many forms, including fable, revue, and satire. All but a few...
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