THE acting challenge.

A one-man Shakespeare play? Yes, it's possible. Dr. Joem Antonio got so good at shoestringing with Shoestring Shakespeare that he reduced the number of actors to one.

Seriously: necessity was the mother of invention once again in this variation of Compact Shakespeare. Mono Shakespeare was born when there was need for a Shoestring Shakespeare play in a short time frame. Dr. Joem Antonio's answer was a one-man Othello, where Iago told the whole story as though giving a mocking eulogy. It would take less time to rehearse if there were just one actor, though he would need to be a really good actor.

Today, Mono Shakespeare performances enthrall audiences and keep them intensely focused, since only one actor is present onstage. However, these abridgments present a challenge to the actor, who needs to play a multitude of roles in such a short time.

The Scripts

Eulogy for Othello at the University of Asia and the Pacific (December 2015)

DJ Navarro as Iago

Directed by Joem Antonio