Ricardo Magno

Ricardo received his initial theatre training from the Cultural Centre of the Philippines. He holds a Master’s degree in Theatre Directing from the University of Melbourne, where he also received the Barbara Manning Award for Drama. Currently, he teaches acting at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, and is a Lead Artist at Western Edge Youth Arts. Recent directing credits include: The Encounter (The Bowery 2026), Aswang (VCA Director’s Showcase 2023 and La Mama 2024) and The Field of Forgotten Dreams (La Mama 2024). Performance credits include Baliti at Melbourne Fringe 2024 (directed by Tony Yap), as well as the 2024 and 2025 Melaka MAPFest in Malaysia.

Other notable credits include direction and choreography for PAMANA (nominated for Best Dance Production at the 2020 Philippine LEAF Awards); choreography for Anna in the Tropics (Special Citation for Outstanding Movement Design, 2020 PhilStage Awards); choreography for Alpha Kappa Omega (Outstanding Movement Design, PDI Best of Theater 2019); direction for Panta Rhei: All in Flux (winner: 2018 Call for Competitive Grants program of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts); and the Best Actor in a Leading Role Award at the 2017 CinePeyu Film Festival.

He was a delegate to the International Theater Institute Festival (Spain, 2018), APB Drama Festival (Taiwan, 2012; Shanghai, 2017; Indonesia, 2018); Asian Performing Arts Forum (Japan, 2016 and 2017), IUP Festival (USA, 2017), Low Fat Art Fest (Bangkok, 2015) and Echo Change Future Action Summit (Bangkok, 2026).

In 2025, he received a Palanca Award for Literature, often dubbed as the “Pulitzer of the Philippines.”