Shakespeare Theatre Company has announced that actors Holly Twyford and Felicia Curry will perform in the Company’s annual Will on the Hill benefit event. The actors join Washington VIPs and Members of Congress for a light-hearted performance showcasing popular Shakespearean passages and sharing stories of the impact of the arts on their lives. The bipartisan event will take place on Tuesday, July 23, at STC’s Harman Hall.
For over 20 years, Will on the Hill has brought the Hill to the stage and raised over $6M 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 education and community programs, and STC Learning serves public, private, and home schools across the DMV with the School Residency program. This semester-long free experience pairs an STC Artist with a classroom to explore a Shakespeare play.
This year, Will on the Hill kicks off with a networking reception featuring theatrical behind-the-scenes stations and refreshments. 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 scene from award-winning movement and fight choreographer Robb Hunter, whose many shows with STC include last season’s King Lear. Showings by STC students will highlight the value of classics and their relevancy for the upcoming leaders of the next generation. Among those performing are students from Lee Montessori, whose class received a visit and coaching on their Macbeth scenes earlier this spring by the Thane himself, Ralph Fiennes. It is all brought by Samantha Wyer Bello, Senior Director of Learning at STC, who returns for her fifth time directing the Will on the Hill performance. The evening concludes with a light post-show reception.
The cast will feature both new and returning Will on the Hill participants, including Marla Allard, Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI), Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL), Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and daughter Margaret Coons, Mike Evans, Doug Heye, Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL), Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, Grover Norquist, Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT).
Will on the Hill is free and by invitation only. It has been designed to meet all Congressional ethics standards.
WHEN: July 23, 2024
6:30 p.m. Pre-Show Reception
7:30 p.m. Performance
8:15 p.m. Post-Show Reception
WHERE: Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20004
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 arts education and engagement programs, which reach students and community members at home, at school, online, and at STC theaters. 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.
ABOUT SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY
For over 35 years, the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre Company has been recognized as the nation’s premier classical theater. 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.