On: October 1 at 06:42 PM
Above: A group of Filipino workers, like those portrayed in "The Romance of Magno Rubio," work in the asparagus fields near Stockton during the 1920's.
This would be about the equivalent of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” being performed in Grover’s Corners.
Only problem there is that Grover’s Corner isn’t real; Wilder made the place up to tell his story of everyday Americans in Anytown, U.S.A. The setting for Lonnie Carter’s “The Romance of Magno Rubio,” based on a short story by Carlos Bulosan, is indeed very real.
“The fact that Bulosan spent a good deal of his life in Stockton, most of his writing we know now is based on stories that people told him, and a lot of it was central to the Stockton agricultural experience,” said Dawn Mabalon.
“I think this show is going to be this very moving experience for the descendants of people who contributed to this; it’s really coming home,” added Mabalon, co-founder of the Little Manila Foundation, which presents New York’s Ma-Yi Theatre’s two night production of “The Romance of Magno Rubio” on October 4 and 5 at the Bob Hope Theatre.
The show that has already delighted audiences in New York, Chicago and other major markets is set during the 1930’s in the San Joaquin Delta agricultural fields, with a story centering on a group of Filipino migrant workers.
"The Romance of Magno Rubio" comes home to the Bob Hope Theatre in Stockton on Saturday, October 4 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 5 at 2 p.m. The theatre is at 242 E. Main St., and tickets are $15-$35. (See below for further information on events surrounding the performance).
“The interesting thing about it is that every place it’s played, it’s been audiences that are a majority non-Filipino,” Mabalon said. “New York and Chicago have substantial Filipino populations, but not like we have here.”
“I had no idea that the story would appeal so much to non-Filipinos and non-migrant workers,” said actor Paolo Montalban. “There really are, as with all great plays, very deeply seeded themes of hope and love and all those things that make us human.”
Montalban plays Paolo, one of a group of five migrant workers working in the Delta fields, and friend of the lead character, Mango Rubio. As Rubio works, he develops a romantic fixation on Clarabelle, an American woman whom he met through a lonely-hearts pen pal ad, and knows only through letters.
In a “Cyrano de Bergerac” type interplay, he solicits the help of his more-literate friend to write the letters for him, as he becomes lost in the promise of a blooming love (albeit irrational and taboo) with Clarabelle (whom is not seen on stage), in a story of hope and resilience.
“It certainly isn’t your traditional one hour and 27 minute play by any stretch, but it’s just as natural as sitting around a campfire telling a story,” Montalban said.
“The actually structure of the play borrows heavily from a lot of traditional Filipino devices of storytelling,” he added. “There is a rhythmic word play which is similar to la hip-hop battle; there are also a lot of clowning techniques that are used, like shadow play, and slow motion fight choreography.”
The play (told in English) also employs many elements of Eskrima, a brand of weapons fighting native to the Philippines and heavily popular in Stockton (you might have also caught it in the “The Bourne Supremacy”).
To celebrate “Magno Rubio’s” homecoming, Mabalon and the Little Manila Foundation have planned a series of events surrounding the performances, including tours of the Little Manila historic site (focusing in on sites relating to Bulosan), a symposium on Bulosan’s work at the Cesar Chavez Library on October 2, and a meet-the-cast party on October 4 at the Stockton Sheridan.
“We all want to honor the piece and honor the people the piece is based on,” said Montalban, trying to shake off any extra nerves about performing the show in Stockton. “I’ll probably feel it 15 minutes before we go on; I bet it will sink in and I’ll feel ‘wow, this is it.’”
“We hope that no one will ever grow up in Stockton not feeling proud about where we came from,” Mabalon said.
“Bringing it home not just for the Filipino American community, it really is for everyone in San Joaquin County,” she added. “Everyone here has some ties to that culture, whether it was our grandparents or we’re living in a house that used to be in a field; it’s a story that ties us all together as Stockton residents.”
Ticket Info: (209) 337-HOPE; www.bobhopetheatre.com.
Special Little Manila Tours:
11 a.m., 1 p.m. & 3 p.m. Oct. 4; 10 a.m. & 12 p.m. Oct. 5.
For information on tours and other events, visit www.littlemanila.net or call (209) 477-7143.
