Shakespeare Theatre Company announces today the annual return of the long-beloved DC benefit event, Will on the Hill. This bipartisan event brings together Members of Congress and Washington VIPs for a lighthearted performance showcasing popular Shakespearean scenes and sharing stories of the impact of the arts on their lives. Joining the participants to bring Shakespeare’s words to life are DC theater mainstay Holly Twyford and STC Academy grad and 2025 Helen Hayes Award recipient Renea Brown. Will on the Hill 2025 takes place on Tuesday, June 10 at STC’s Harman Hall.
For over two decades, Will on the Hill has brought the Hill to the stage as a fundraiser for STC’s learning programs for youth, fostering bipartisan support for education and the arts. STC reaches nearly 20,000 students, teachers, and community members every year through learning and community programs, and STC Learning serves public, private, and home schools across the DMV with intensive School Residencies, a semester-long free experience that pairs an STC Teaching Artist with a classroom to explore a classic play.
This year, Will on the Hill begins with a networking reception featuring theatrical behind-the-scenes stations, including a live props demonstration. Following that, guests will move into Harman Hall for lively readings of Shakespearean scenes by Members of Congress in a playful “talent show” of words. The evening also includes a stage combat demonstration, as well as current STC Learning students showcasing their recent classroom work on A Midsummer Night’s Dream and All’s Well That Ends Well. It is all brought together by Samantha Wyer Bello, Senior Director of Learning at STC, who returns for her sixth time directing the Will on the Hill performance. A post-show reception will conclude the evening with drinks and bites featuring American BBQ fare.
The cast will feature both new and returning Will on the Hill participants, including Marla Allard, Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI), Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Steve Clemons, Mike Evans, STC Artistic Director Simon Godwin, Doug Heye, James Hohmann, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Executive Director Aaron Myers, Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA), Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, Grover Norquist, DC Councilmember Brooke Pinto (Ward 2), Rep. Stacey E. Plaskett (D-VI), and Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV)
Will on the Hill is free and by invitation only. It has been designed to meet all Congressional ethics standards.
WHEN: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
TIME: 7:30 p.m. Performance / 8:30 p.m. Post-Show Reception
WHERE: Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F Street, NW
ABOUT WILL ON THE HILL
For over 20 years, STC’s Will on the Hill benefit has raised critical funding in support of the theater’s Learning programs that engage students of all ages with the classics to foster their individual creativity and build community. Joined by Members of Congress across the aisle and celebrating the works of Shakespeare, the bipartisan event has become a mainstay in the Washington, DC community.
SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY
For nearly 40 years, the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre Company has been recognized as the nation’s premier classic theater. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Simon Godwin and Executive Director Angela Lee Gieras, STC tells vital stories in audacious forms, stories that are Shakespearean in the deepest sense, even if they are not written by Shakespeare. They stage epic stories in exhilarating style.