The word "robot" was introduced to the world by the Czech playwright Karel Capek in "R.U.R.," a play that was first performed in 1921 and ran for four performances on Broadway in 1942. Now you know all I knew about "R.U.R." when I went to see it in Chicago last week. It is, to be sure, known by name to most people with a serious interest in science fiction or Central European drama, but I'd never seen it on stage, nor has it been professionally performed in this country at any time in my memory. I went partly out of curiosity and partly because I was so impressed by Strawdog Theatre Company's electrifying 2007 production of Brian Friel's "Aristocrats" that I wanted to see if it had been a fluke. I'm happy to report that lightning struck twice: Strawdog's "R.U.R." is a major revival of a play that turns out to be far more than a mere historical curiosity.

"R.U.R." is a tale of modernity run amok, the story of Rossum's Universal Robots, an island factory that manufactures lifelike but soulless artificial humans in vast quantities, then ships them all over Europe to grateful purchasers who use them to do their dirty work. This being science fiction, things inevitably go wrong: Dr. Gall (John Henry Roberts), one of the white-coated scientists in the employ of Rossum's Universal Robots, makes the fatal mistake of building a few hundred robots that can feel emotions, upon which all hell breaks well and truly loose.

What makes "R.U.R." so interesting is that its symbolism is wide open, meaning that it can be interpreted in any number of ways -- as a satire of capitalism, a parable of the law of unintended consequences, even a critique of secular humanism and its discontents. What makes it so theatrically potent is that Capek (pronounced CHAH-puck) wrote it as a comedy that ends in apocalypse -- or, in his words, "A Collective Drama in a Comic Prologue and Three Acts." What makes this production so effective is that Shade Murray, the director, has contrived to give "R.U.R." a contemporary, even postmodern tone without doing violence to its letter or spirit. Imagine a cross between "Ball of Fire" and "Night of the Living Dead" and you'll get the idea: The costumes are quaint, the sets simple but implicitly futuristic, the between-scenes music space-age lounge. Stir in the brisk, witty performances of Mr. Murray's superior cast and you get a show that is at once horrifying, entertaining and -- forgive the cliché -- genuinely thought-provoking.

As with "Aristocrats" before it, part of the effect of "R.U.R." arises from the fact that it is being performed in Strawdog's tiny upstairs black-box theater, which puts you as close to the action as you can get without being a member of the cast. Mr. Roberts, who was so very good in "Aristocrats," makes an equally strong impression this time around as the wonkish scientist who is hopelessly in love with Helena (Michaela Petro), the handsome young wife of Harry (Ryan Bolettino), the central director of the robot factory. Ms. Petro and Mr. Bolettino play the prologue as if it had been written by Noël Coward, which is just right -- but, then, everything about this production is right.