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HOH’s One-Minute Recess: Berkley Is the New Streep

And the Oscar goes to … Rep. Shelley Berkley. The Nevada Democrat seemed to be the crowd favorite at Monday night’s “Will on the Hill” performance at the Shakespeare Theatre Company — at least according to a highly scientific survey HOH took after the show.

The diminutive Berkley, playing an under-respected secretary of Agriculture, won praise for her sprightly delivery of her lines and for her charm when she flubbed. “Stole the show!” raved one Hill staffer in the audience.

The play, which featured Members of Congress and prominent media types, centered around a pair of White House staffers attempting to help their boss prepare for a State of the Union speech, a task complicated by the fact that the president is on a serious Bard-quoting jag that they can’t seem to shake.

Also winning kudos were Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) for his understated portrayal of a Joseph Biden-esque vice president and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) for his enthusiastic (and, unlike most of the other actors, mostly off-script) performance as the Shakespeare-quoting commander in chief.

The zeal of the Congressional actors might best be summed up by a line from one of the White House staffers (played by “House” actor Peter Jacobson, one of two professional actors in the play): “Scratch a politician and you’ll find a ham.”

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