A Legacy of Collaboration: Hope Hartup’s 100 Shows at Hopkins

There’s a lot more to count than one hundred shows for longtime Hopkins drama instructor Hope Hartup.

To capture the magnitude, you’d have to count the late evenings, the rehearsals, the lighting cues, the costume changes, the opening nights, the final bows, and the countless students who discovered something about themselves under the stage lights.

Or, as former Hopkins librarian Faye Prendergast put it in a Facebook comment celebrating Hartup’s milestone: “That’s a lot of breaking legs!”

But when you ask Hartup what she’s most proud of after nearly four decades at Hopkins, she always begins by mentioning the people she’s shared her moments with on the Hill.

The students who surprised her. The colleagues who became collaborators. The alumni who still stay in touch. The mentors who gave her confidence. The creative partners who helped transform ideas into productions that generations of Hopkins students still remember.

“I’m not sentimental about that,” she said of reaching one hundred productions. “I think more about feeling really happy, feeling really privileged. It’s not a lot of people who get paid to do something they love. And I love theater and I love working with young people. It’s a gift to watch these kids grow up and through the vehicle of theater discover how capable they are.”

Hartup has a difficult time singling out each production. She doesn’t count the plays. She counts the people.

“It almost feels like mini generations,” she said. “There’s that ’90s crew, there’s the early 2000s crew. You sort of see groups of kids and the plays that we did together.”

Hartup’s 100th production was These Shining Lives. The play, which tells the story of the “Radium Girls” who fought for justice after being poisoned while painting watch dials, became not only a milestone in Hartup’s career, but also an award-winning moment for the Hopkins Drama Association (HDA). At the 2026 HALO Awards, These Shining Lives earned Best Contemporary Play.

Hartup still laughs when she talks about how reaching one hundred productions wasn’t something she ever planned.

Raised by a mother who was an actor and director, and a father who was a professor and educator, Hartup said she assumed she would eventually work in higher education or professional theater. Instead, she accepted a part-time teaching position at Hopkins after the School’s full-time drama instructor departed.

She taught acting, film, and theater workshops. What she found almost immediately was a community that challenged and inspired her.

“The kids and the faculty here were and still are really smart, adventurous, open-minded, and just so supportive of each other,” she said. “From day one, I was given the support and freedom to challenge myself and my students.”

Her first Hopkins production was Dracula, staged in Lovell Hall before the theater even had risers. The audience sat onstage while actors performed near the theater entrance. Lovell Hall quickly became a laboratory for Hartup’s creativity.

There were no sophisticated lighting systems. No modern scene shop. No backstage infrastructure. Every production required a bit of improvisation, and Hartup embraced every challenge.

“The excitement was in creating something special no matter the circumstance,” she said.

Those early years were marked by collaborations that were so meaningful, they stick with Hartup to this day.

“I learned a lot from the first student I was really close to here, Joseph Buberger ’90,” she recalled. “He taught me about lights.”

When Buberger graduated, he presented Hartup with a crescent wrench and a piece of rope—a tribute to the countless hours they had spent hanging lights together.

The 2025–2026 theatrical season at Hopkins was filled largely with comedies, until students approached Hartup hoping to tackle something more dramatic. She listened, selecting These Shining Lives for the spring production.

HDA co-head Miriam Levin ’26 said she was grateful to have her final curtain call at Hopkins under Hartup’s direction.

“This was my first non-comedic role at Hopkins, so it was incredibly refreshing,” Levin said. “Getting to close out my Hopkins acting career with a show I’m most proud of—and one where I got to work with Hope to showcase a different side of my acting abilities—was the highlight of my HDA years. Hope listened to us when we asked for something serious, and picked a show that highlighted her students in the best way.”

For all shows between one and one hundred, choosing a production begins not with a favorite script, but with the young people Hartup sees walking into auditions. She studies the strengths of each class, considers where they can be challenged, and looks for stories that will help them grow.

“They bring a lot to the table,” said Hartup of Hopkins students. “So that’s exciting and thrilling for me.”

In rehearsal, Hartup is known for asking questions instead of giving answers. Why does a character cross the stage? What do they want? Is this movement truthful? Could there be a better choice?

“I expect a lot,” she said. “I want them to challenge themselves. What’s the point of having me in the room if I’m not there to help you improve and challenge you?”

Levin says those high expectations never came at the expense of student ownership.

“Hope’s directing style is so impactful because she’s so detail-oriented and takes every movement as part of the deeper meaning and story of a show,” Levin said. “But even through her hands-on directing style, her students feel like the project is theirs. We are included in our character choices, motivations, and movements, directing alongside her.”

Producing an excellent show has always mattered to Hartup. Equally important is helping students grow through the creative process.

Technical Director David Kenton, who was hired when Lovell Hall was renovated into the Academic & Performing Arts Center (APAC), said he sees that philosophy every day.

“Hope starts each show with a clear vision of the final product and works to ensure that all elements of the production contribute toward that picture,” he said. “But even though she can see the end, she knows the path to get there will be windy, surprising, and very entertaining.”

Hartup sees directing as an inherently collaborative process, not a solitary one—a philosophy that has become even more evident since moving into APAC. While the state-of-the-art theater no longer requires Hartup to keep a crescent wrench nearby, she said it’s the opportunity to work with Kenton that excites her.

“The biggest difference in my life is having David as a colleague,” she said. “I love our collaborations.”

Kenton believes their partnership succeeds because they share the same philosophy.

“We both have a vision for the high quality level of theater we want to produce, and we are always actively working toward that common goal,” he said. “We’ve spent so many late nights nitpicking over the tiniest of details that some may overlook, but we fully understand that if you do sweat the small stuff, it really can make all the difference.”

Long before Kenton joined the theater program, another creative partner helped shape nearly every Hopkins production: Hartup’s husband, Robert Eberle.

A longtime educator, musician, and beloved member of the Hopkins community, Eberle played percussion in pit orchestras, substituted classes, supported productions behind the scenes, and became, in Hartup’s words, her “secret weapon.”

“Everything I’ve ever done, he’s been a collaborator with me,” Hartup said. “So whatever I have now is a lot of him.”

Eberle passed away in late 2025, making These Shining Lives Hartup’s first production without him. Before the show opened, Hartup said she felt his absence in the ordinary moments—the conversations after rehearsal, the brainstorming sessions, or the search for just the right piece of music.

As she begins the process of thinking through play 101 and beyond, she said her resounding emotion remains gratitude for all the lives that have shone around her.

“I just feel incredibly lucky,” Hartup said.