Magno Rubio, Filipino boy…
Magno Rubio, Filipinoy…
Last night, as a birthday present to my mom, the folks and I attended one of the last showings of
“The Romance of Magno Rubio”, and Obie-winning play based on a short story by Filipino writer Carlos Bulosan, author of
“America is in the Heart”. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire play, from the acting, to the singing, to the comedy, to set design and even the lighting…it was a great theatrical experience with a side bonus of the cast and director all being of Filipino descent.
Bulosan wrote a simple story about “manongs”, the earliest Filipino migrant workers who worked on the fields of California, Alaska and Hawaii during the 1930s. It was a time where “Postively No Filipinos or Dogs Allowed” signs were displayed and enforced. The way I understood the story, it was about a man, in this case Magno Rubio, who came to America searching for his version of the dream. As in all ethnic stories about this time period in America, these dreams are seemingly realized but ultimately destroyed leading the audience to question the tenacity and strength of the character.
Even though a fictional story, it represents the struggle of the earliest Filipino-Americans who came to the States (or United Snakes of America in the play) in search for a better life. It wasn’t until WWII that Filipinos were viewed in a much more favorable light. No matter how difficult his struggles were, Magno Rubio, persevered and viewed his situation as a glass half full when it was really empty to begin with. A human story where his innocent spirit was left untainted by all the abuse he had to endure for that period of time. We saw the rest of the characters show different signs of weakness throughout the course…because really, how much struggle can a man take?
Although none of them really had a break in the story, we’re left with a feeling of, “shit happens” but you live through it when your choices are limited. It seemed to say in the end…”you’ll survive”.
My parents had mixed feelings about the play because it was in a more abstract style much different that what they are used to watching on a Broadway stage. Also, they could not connect with the characters because they knew that Philippine society at the time also looked down on the manongs who were typically the un-educated poor of the country. They did however enjoy some of the old school Tagalog songs that were part of the play like the classic “Ikaw”…
Ikaw ang ligaya sa buhay…
They even had mixed feelings about the dinner we had at Filipino-fusion restaurant
Cendrillon, which is a favorite of mine in SoHo. From the prices (“$25 for bistek?!?!) to the different flavors of their favorite dishes (“the lumpia sariwa has curry in it?!?!”) and my dad getting drunk from one vodka martini…it was a surreal night.
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