As my shows are frequently performed at universities or small professional theaters, we don’t get reviews as often as I would like–but the ones we do get are always a gift.
“As the production [of Wonder of Our Stage] went on, in Huber’s intelligent inversion of space, Dee’s study became more of an imprisoning cell as the Automaton started exploring the wider world – including the field from which the audience watched – in Burbage’s company, the Automaton’s horizons literally expanding while Dee returned to a life’s work that would remain unfulfilled, aging across an artificially elongated lifespan but never developing…Huber’s direction created a powerful spatial structure within which this organic story could take shape, creating moments of joy in which The Automaton ran through the field, slowly becoming more elegant and graceful in both movement and speech, until by their final encounter with the Queen, it was now Elizabeth who was stiff, fixed in time, looking down from her gallery upon a courtly lover who had become what she had wanted, but who was now on a very different path.”—Dr Peter Kirwan (Full Review)
“Aili Huber carefully placed each player [in Wonder of Our Stage] not just in great blocking but in positions where we could connect with their desires, their pasts, and their own extraordinary definitions of being. Each player, without question, created characters that gleamed with humanity, depth, and complexity.”—George Durfee (Full Review)
“Aili Huber directs this production [of Richard III] and she makes clever use of banners to help the audience keep track of a complicated cast of characters. Each banner is emblazoned with the crest of the person it represents—Edward has a sun, Richard has a boar, etc. When each of the people represented by the banner are put to death, the banner is pulled from the back of the stage and given to the soon to be executed person (and yes, that nearly everyone dies is not a spoiler—not only is this Shakespeare and a history, but the statute of limitations has long run out on any result in the War of the Roses being a spoiler). The banners then return in a climactic scene toward the end…We’d like to look at a story like Richard III and say that Shakespeare merely exaggerated his villainy to curry favor with his own queen, that such a man could not prosper or exist off the stages of the playhouse. Yet, Pigeon Creek did not have to do a single bit of modernizing or politicization to leave the audience feeling like this story has more relevancy than ever before” — Bridgette Redman, Encore Michigan (Full Review)
“Director Alisha Huber embraces many textual advantages the space offers her…Huber also employs subtle blocking that further fleshes out the characters’ personalities…Just seeing a play in this re-creation of an Elizabethan theater in the middle of a wilderness arts camp would merit the term indelible, but I’d love to watch this Alisha Huber–helmed production [of Much Ado About Nothing]by the touring Pigeon Creek Shakespeare company again in any venue.” — Eric Minton, Shakespeareances (Full Review)
“Huber had a very clear story to tell with this Antony and Cleopatra and it was one that was convincing. Yes, there are politics and battles and warfare, but the heart of this story are the two people in the title, two lovers ripe in age, experienced in the world who know what they want and will take it. In her vision, in the hands of Mayberry and Lange, this Antony and Cleopatra really does rival any production of Romeo and Juliet as a timeless and stunning love story.” — Bridgette Redman, Encore Michigan, (Full Review)
“Even beyond these mere examples, the script [Duchess of Malfi]is full of surprising imagery, subtle Biblical references, humor, and deep insight into the tragedy of the human condition. And every move this fine company makes invites the audience deeper into Webster’s dark poetry, which is ultimately what makes this production so thrilling and deeply moving.” — Marin Heinritz, Encore Michigan, (Full Review)
“Alisha Huber’s direction of the play gave Julius Caesar a very nice pacing, and the scenes moved one into the other in an effortless free form that specifically suited this production. Given that the play was largely language driven, the clarity of the performers and their disciplined dedication to the spoken word kept the narration on track, and allowed the audience to share with the actors in their journey to discover their own truths.” — James A. Kroll, MLive, (Full Review)
“I especially appreciated the deliberate exploitation of the energy in this sometimes static play [Julius Caesar], with actors interspersed throughout the audience at strategic points and a rich variety of sounds, harsh, soft, loud, quiet, near, and far in relation to the audience. The 2nd Act was particularly successful in this regard, as if Caesar’s death freed the play from its rather formal movement style in the first Act, where most people entered, exited, and occupied places on the stage that were very practical and efficient, but somewhat predictable, without a lot of variety. After the murder, this all changed, and the world of the play was clearly a very different, less orderly, and more chaotic place. Act 2 was full of creative, effective movement on and off the stage, and the play fairly careened through the second half, rewarding the audience for its attention at every turn.” — Jo Miller, Grand Valley State University, (Full Review)
“The moment of the turn was very strong, and I think it was because the relationships between the characters was so strongly defined, especially the one between Richard [III] and Buckingham. Also, Scott [Lange] is so good at being bad…his command of the specifics of who this guy is and what he wants is pretty incredible…The pace also had something to do with it for me. I know PCSC and [Aili] really plan that break neck (without rushing) pace, and for some reason it worked so well for this production. It was almost like watching an action movie, so much happens and the audience is left breathless. The audience really has to become collaborators to keep up with the plot! TL:DR: Pace, relationships, and the always strong PCSC cast and direction makes for an involved audience!”– Janna Rosenkrantz, Muskegon Community College
“This was the best Romeo and Juliet I ever saw. I always feel like this after a Pigeon Creek production…Playing the comedy up in the first two acts made the intensity of the play after intermission that much deeper.” — Anonymous audience comment