Hopkins Shoestring Ensemble at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe!

Did you love or hate your Latin Class in school? Us, too!

The Hopkins School’s Shoestring Ensemble translates all 27 chapters of Ecce Romani! the Latin textbook’s narration into English including the most exciting parts: wolves, soldiers, and a ditch!

Told in the Fringe First award winning Shoestring Style*, this ensemble of New Haven, Connecticut, teens create all needed scenic elements through colorful and cheeky living tableaux.

Suitable for families, lovers of Latin, and those who despised this book! www.hopkins.edu has more information about the Shoestring Ensemble at Hopkins School where Latin has been taught since 1660!

Read about our adventures at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2025! Below, you’ll find videos, photos, and reviews!

*The Shoestring Players, The People Who Could Fly, 1991 Fringe First Award Winner. Our current director was a member of this show’s original company.

Ecce Romani on a Shoestring! LIVE

After a week of rehearsals, the Hopkins Drama Association Shoestring Ensemble performed their kick-off show in the newly renovated Academic and Performing Arts Center before heading off to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe!

Ecce Romani in Edinburgh!

A week later, the cast and crew of Ecce Romani on a Shoestring were performing in the center of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe!

International Reviews!

Here are quotes and links to reviews about

Ecce Romani on a Shoestring!

Shoestring Theatre brings their unique brand of storytelling magic to the book – and it is a funny, well-drilled jaunt through all twenty-seven chapters. There is some innovative physical theatre, modern questioning of certain material, and clever nods to the repetitious structure of the book.

Broadway Baby - https://broadwaybaby.com/shows/ecce-romani-on-a-shoestring/826475
I’ve seen shows put on by high school kids before and some of them are not that great, but this one was just so much fun and really well put together.

FringeFanJohnny on Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@fringefanjohnny/video/7536703370757803266
This was a massively enthusiastic undertaking, and it is very difficult not to be encouraged by the infectiousness on stage by these young students. Around a dozen are on stage throughout, creating tableaux as part of the scenery. Directorially, it is an interesting demonstration of the technique and the skills of this young cast. As an ensemble, the acting is a particularly good standard.

The British Theatre Review - https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/ecce-romani-on-paradise-at-st-24676

Performing on the Fringe!

Watch out for the ditch!
Meeting Dr. Richard Orr
Our part of the Fringe!
Cornelius is recalled to Rome!
Why is Sextus such a pest?

Previous Companies

In 2012, the Hopkins Drama Association ventured for the first time into the largest theatrical festival in the world held every August in the ancient capital of Scotland, Edinburgh. The idea was to not merely be spectators but participants among the thousands of performances happening at the same time. HDA returned in 2017 with Shakespeare on a Shoestring: Cymbeline! and in 2019 with Shakeseapre on a Shoestring: Comedy of Errors!

Shakespeare on a Shoestring: Cymbeline! can be read and performed by your theater group by visiting https://www.theatrefolk.com/products/shakespeare-on-a-shoestring-cymbeline

International Travel.

HDA takes 16 students per trip from campus to Edinburgh as a group. Once in Edinburgh, each student gets their own dorm-style room and shares a common room/kitchen with half of the group. These dorms were our home base where we planned our days, cooked our meals and enjoyed each other’s company!

Performance.

To fully immerse ourselves in the festival, HDA produces an hour-long show open to the general public. Like every other company from around the world our cast promotes the show, sells tickets and meets enthusiastic audience members! Due to the immense number of shows booked in each theater venue we are given 20 minutes to set up and 20 minutes to break down before and after our show!

Meeting the Artists.

Like us, thousands of theater artists come to the Edinburgh Festival each year to make new connections or see old friends. We often waited to speak to the actors after a show to thank them for their work, invite them to our show or simply “talk shop.” A number of times we would see these performers enjoying the city “like normal people.”