ET TU, SHOESTRING?

An ambitious historical comedy
collapses under its own weight—
but not without flashes of promise

The Fall of the Roman Republic… On a Shoestring Budget at The Hollywood Fringe

There are many different reasons for failure. All of them sting.

The Fall of the Roman Republic… On a Shoestring Budget, now striding the stage at the Actors Company’s Other Space Theatre, is a failure.

But a damn interesting one!

James Donovan (director, writer, and actor) and producer MJ Adamson have an uber-concept: tell the story of the fall of the Roman Republic—and I mean start to finish. And not just the big names—Julius Caesar, Pompey, Cleopatra, and Marc Antony—but the full cast of characters. And let’s do the whole “fall”—the political and social nuts and bolts of the “big tumble.” Let’s take our narrative text from the old historians Sallust, Plutarch, and the lot, like Jack Pulman did on I, Claudius. Let’s give a concise history of that republic’s end and see how it resonates against the events we face today. It will look like Edward Gibbon getting the Spamalot treatment, complete with meta-references to popular sitcoms, cutting-edge comedy, sharp political observations, silly fun, and perhaps a dash of Cullen Murphy’s Are We Rome?

Now there’s a show!

Unfortunately, that was not the show on stage.

In the Ideas Require Actualization Department, you could call this a disappointment. The ideas are there. The realization never quite catches up.

James Donovan

I can’t fault Donovan as a writer or actor. As a history junkie, I appreciate his commitment to laying out such a stupendous story—and on a shoestring budget. As an actor, he seems to have based his Julius Caesar on William Shatner’s Alexander the Great. Donovan has the right sense of style and emerges as one of the few standouts in a somewhat large cast.

What is needed here is a director—an outside eye. Someone to push the cast (or cut them) and unify the tone.

Watching this show, I wanted it to be better than it was. And I felt this knockabout little troupe of zanies could, in fact, be better. There is some genuine snap and crackle here; only the pop is lacking.

That said, The Fall of the Roman Republic… On a Shoestring Budget is Fringe to the gills.

Give them an audience. They’re worth an audience.

But make them push themselves further and earn every moment of your time.

See what you think.

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The Fall of the Roman Republic… On a Shoestring Budget
Hollywood Fringe Festival
Actors Company (Other Space Theater), 916 N. Formosa Ave.
ends on June 28, 2026
for tickets, visit The Fall of the Roman Republic

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