The Romance of Magno Rubio

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More About

• Randy Reyes
• Orlando Pabotoy
• Lonnie Carter
• Theater Reviews
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Romance and desire are notably the prime motivators for the creation of poetry (not to mention other lovely and not-so-admirable activities, but let's stick to art and beauty here). The Filipino-American poet Carlos Bulosan cooked up some short verse about a migrant worker entranced by an improbable romance, which Lonnie Carter converted into a play about frustration, ardor, and impossibility. Theater Mu brings it to the stage starring the magnetic Randy Reyes, and the director is Orlando Pabotoy, who created the title role for New York's Ma-Yi Theater Company's Obie-winning 2002 premiere. The show utilizes traditional Filipino art forms to tell a story of yearning, the eternal subject matter of human existence here rendered both as romantic metaphor and on-the-ground reality. Mu continues to push the intersection between Asian heritage and the universal; here the company's aesthetic might well have found a memorable match. (photo by theopie)
Thursdays-Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.; Mon., Sept. 14, 7 p.m. Starts: Sept. 4. Continues through Sept. 27, 2009