In 2009, the Center auctioned off a speaking role to appear in A Comedy of Errors, alongside Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. In December 2010, the Center staged Much Ado About Nothing, featuring actress Helen Hunt, with musician Lyle Lovett headlining the accompanying band. In 2012, the Center launched Veterans in Art, continuing its work started in the early 90s with the VA, to bring military veterans and actors together to create theatre productions. In July 2013, the Center launched a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, at the VA campus' Japanese Garden. In September, the Center hosted a benefit reading of The Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Broad Stage at Santa Monica College, as part of the Center's 23rd annual Simply Shakespeare program. The event included the actor Tom Hanks, musician Paul McCartney and actor William Shatner. In 2014, the production had to move to Santa Monica College due to an ACLU lawsuit against commercial businesses that the ACLU claimed were misusing VA land. In September, singer Paul Simon participated in the Simply Shakespeare benefit performance of As You Like It, along with William Shatner and actor Martin Short, at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. In August 2016, the Center staged Twelfth Night at Santa Monica College. In June 2018, the Center returned to the Los Angeles VA with a performance of Henry IV, featuring Tom Hanks in the role of Falstaff in the actor's Los Angeles stage debut. Other actors included Hamish Linklater and Joe Morton. The play was directed by American director and playwright Daniel J. Sullivan, who combined William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 into a consolidated version. In October, the Center staged The Tragedie of Macbeth: An Immersive Experience as an immersive haunted house/play, in the Center's City West headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. The Shakespeare Center offers community outreach programs called Will Power to Schools, which provides Shakespeare training to teachers, and Will Power to Youth, which hires young Los Angeles residents to study Shakespeare and perform in the plays. The Center runs the Veterans in Art program in conjunction with the Employment Services office at the West L.A. VA. Veterans in Art teaches veterans theatre industry skills, provides professional mentorship during the play production process, and provides tuition for veterans to enroll in technical theatre courses at Southern California community colleges. The Center also awards the Crystal Quill Award to recipients whose efforts have helped promote Shakespeare education. Past recipients include directors Baz Luhrmann and Roland Emmerich.