‘Magno Rubio’ opens at Playhouse

Tom Titus

The theme of the Laguna Playhouse’s latest production may ring a

bell, but rest assured it’s far removed from “Cyrano de Bergerac.”

In Filipino-American writer Carolos Bulosan’s story, “The Romance

of Magno Rubio,” opening this weekend, a love-struck but illiterate

Filipino farm worker in Depression-era California, with a poor

command of the English language, pays a fellow field hand to write

love letters to the object of his affection.

The Laguna production is the West Coast premiere of the play,

first unveiled a year ago, but the story itself dates back to the

first half of the 20th century. Author Bulosan came to the United

States in 1931 and worked as a factory and farm worker for many years

before becoming a labor activist.

His most famous book, “America is the Heart,” fictionalized the

squalid working conditions of Filipino laborers, and President

Franklin D. Roosevelt commissioned him to write the essay “Four

Freedoms.” His activism earned him a place on Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s

blacklist of anti-American activity, and he died in 1956.

Bulosan’s story of Magno Rubio was dramatized by playwright Lonnie

Carter and staged for the first time last October by the MaYi Theater

Company in New York. The production won eight Obie (off-Broadway)

awards.

Four members of the original production -- Art Acuna, Ron Domingo,

Jojo Gonzales and Ramon de Ocampo -- have come west to repeat their

roles in the Laguna production, along with director Loy Arcenas, who

also designed the setting. Only Orville Mendoza is a newcomer to the

project.

“This romantic comedy joyously entertains with inspired silliness,

kinetic movement, verse and song and a mix of English, broken

English, broken Spanish and Tagalog [Filipino] dialogue,” according

to Richard Stein, executive director of the Laguna Playhouse.

“The Romance of Magno Rubio” was hailed by the New York Times as

offering “a thoroughly endearing ensemble,” while the New York Post

commented, “Love, Filipino style [is] an intriguing mixture of verse,

music and dialogue [with] impressive performances from the five

actors.”

Preview performances have been offered all week, winding up

tonight. Opening night is Saturday with regular performances

following nightly except Mondays at 8 p.m. (weekend matinees at 2

p.m. and Sunday evenings at 7 p.m.) Through Dec. 7.

There will be no Thanksgiving Day performance, nor will the play

be stated on the evening of closing day. Call the playhouse at (949)

497-2787 for ticket information.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Coastline Pilot.