Arthur Acuna, Ron Domingo, Orville Mendoza, Narciso Lobo and Jojo Gonzalez star in The Romance of Magno Rubio in New Haven

Posted by Lia Chang on Monday, 28 March 2005.

Arthur Acuna, Ron Domingo, Orville Mendoza, Narciso Lobo and Jojo Gonzalez star in The Romance of Magno Rubio at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT through Apr. 3.

Arthur Acuna, Ron Domingo, Orville Mendoza, Narciso Lobo and Jojo Gonzalez star in The Romance of Magno Rubio at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT through Apr. 3.

Based on a short story by Filipino-American writer and activist Carlos Bulosan, Lonnie Carter's award-winning adaptation of The Romance of Magno Rubio with text in Tagalog by Ralph B. Pea, is the bittersweet tale of Magno (Jojo Gonzalez), a Filipino immigrant farm laborer in 1930s California.

When Magno - only 4 feet 6 inches tall -"meets" Clarabelle by answering a personal ad in a lonely-hearts magazine, his fellow workers try to temper his irrational, long distance love affair. After sending heartfelt love-letters penned by his more educated bunkmate, and large and extravagant gifts, Magno finally proposes, and Clarabelle accepts - if he'll wire a large sum of cash for her long trip from Arkansas.

Through clever word play, rhymes, rhythms, even songs sung in Tagalog, Carter's adaptation of Bulosan's short story reveals the lives of migrant workers, their struggles and dreams, and their longings for home and a better life.

Director Loy Arcenas, provides The Romance of Magno Rubio's sets, with costumes by Myung Hee Cho, lighting by James Vermuelen, and sound design and original music by Fabian Obispo.

Tickets for The Romance of Magno Rubio on Long Wharf Theatre's Stage II are available online, by phone at 203-787-4282 or toll-free at 800-782-8497, and in person at the Long Wharf Theatre Box Office (222 Sargent Drive). Prices range from $20-60. Senior, student and group rates are also available.

After the 2002 world premiere of The Romance of Magno Rubio by the New York-based Ma-Yi Theatre Company, the show was awarded a 2003 OBIE award for Ensemble Performance. Casts of The Romance of Magno Rubio have performed at the Laguna Playhouse in California, the Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago and in Manila, where the play received its Philippines premiere.