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The Makropoulos Secret was first played in the National Theater of Prague in November of 1922, and it was then that Karel Capek wrote to his audience:

“The idea of this new comedy first occurred to me about three or four years ago, before writing ‘R. U. R.’ It seemed then to be an ideal subject for a novel, but that is a form of writing I do not care for. The idea itself came from the theory of Professor Mecnik, that age is caused by an auto-intoxicating organism.

“I make these statements because Bernard Shaw’s new play, ‘Back to Methuselah,’ which I have seen in synopsis only, appeared this winter. In actual measure, it is very impressive. It, too, has the motif of longevity. This likeness in theme is entirely accidental, and, it seems to me from the synopsis, that while Bernard Shaw comes to the same conclusion as I do, it is in quite the opposite manner. Mr. Shaw believes that it is possible for an ideal community of people to live several hundred years in a sort of paradise. As the play-goer perceives, long life in my play is treated quite differently; I think that such a condition is neither ideal nor desirable. Both ideas are