When Judy Norman walks on stage for the play'Spillikin', she performs beside a somewhat different cast member - a humanoid robot. The robot can talk, make facial expressions, blink its eyes, move its hand and turn its head. It has even been described as'affectionate' by leading lady Norman, who works closely with the robot throughout the performance. When Judy Norman (right) walks on stage for the play'Spillikin', she performs beside a somewhat different cast member - a humanoid robot (left). RoboThespian is the creation of Cornish engineer Will Jackson who had an idea to develop an artistic robot that could react with its audiences. Six years ago he embarked on a project to create a robot that would save tour guides from tediously repeating the same script each day.