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Juneau Rasmuson awardee’s project opens Thursday with community performance
- Jasz Garrett
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
‘The Romance of Magno Rubio’ brings five Filipino actors to multiple stages
By Jasz Garrett
Juneau Independent
Theater Alaska is set to open “The Romance of Magno Rubio” on Thursday as part of the Alaska Theater Festival, bringing professional theater directly into community spaces at no charge.
Flordelino Lagundino, the producer who also plays Magno Rubio, received a Rasmuson 2025 Individual Artist Project Award last fall for the play. It’s been a dream of his to produce for years.
Based on a short story by Carlos Bulosan, acclaimed Filipino-American novelist and poet, the play is a complex story of a Filipino farmworker who falls in love with a white woman through a pen-pal courtship.
“I got to know this story of Magno Rubio when I was in college. I did an independent study on Asian American writing,” Lagundino said. “This play was adapted by Lonnie Carter for a theater company called Ma-Yi Theater in New York City. I remember when I watched it around 15 years ago. It's just a really amazing play, an adaptation or making of the story, with five Filipino actors.”
The other four actors are Jay Españo, Andre Braza, Juan Castro and Patrick Elizalde. Director Nathaniel Claridad is also Filipino.
Lagundino said while the story focuses on Magno Rubio’s courtship, it also shares the experience of five migrant farmworkers, or “manong,” living together in California’s Central Valley during the 1930s.
“Their dreams of America, their thoughts of what America is supposed to be and the difficulties they had as immigrants here in the United States,” Lagundino said. “It has music, it has poetry. It just has a lot of theatricality in it. I'm excited to share it with Juneau.”
Lagundino said “The Romance of Magno Rubio” is a universal story about love, but it’s also representation. He wants the Filipino community in Juneau to see themselves on stage.
“There aren't that many, first of all, plays being produced by Filipinos,” he said. “There's a huge population here in Juneau, so being able to share a story that actually talks about five different Filipinos and their different perspectives on this country I think is very interesting.”
Performances run from June 25 to July 12 at various venues, including the Treadwell Mine Office Building, Jensen-Olson Arboretum, McPhetres Hall, Mendenhall Valley Public Library and the Noyes Pavilion at the University of Alaska Southeast. The opening night is Thursday at the Treadwell Mine Office Building at 7 p.m and is free, with donations welcome.
“I'm really just grateful for the Rasmuson Foundation, also the Juneau Community Foundation,” Lagundino said, adding both artist grants help pay for performers and the director.
People are advised to bring their own seating for outdoor venues. More information on the production can be found here.
The next Theater Alaska production part of the statewide festival is “Cry It Out,” which is scheduled to run July 23 to Aug. 9. It is described as a funny and heartfelt comedy that explores three new mothers navigating motherhood and professionalism.
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356.
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