“Thank you for being truly the best person to work with after the pandemic shutdown. It’s scary to return to a job where one is willing to ‘fly without a net’ each night, but you provided us with more security and safety than I have EVER felt in my 30 years of acting! For the very FIRST TIME in my theatre career, I had zero butterflies or worries of making mistakes…I think this level of comfort is fully due to the community you created during rehearsal.” —Donna Marie Miller, Merry Wives of Windsor, Quill Theatre
“I never tire of working with [Aili], and would leap at the chance to have her direct me for even thirty seconds. I am constantly grateful for her work, inspiration, and guidance. The work I do onstage would be absolutely impossible without her.”–Scott Lange, Wilde Award winner for Richard III, Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company
“I don’t encounter directors often enough who so demonstrably care about their craft, rather than just creating a mystique or atmosphere around their ineffable reading of the play or some such nonsense, speaking only in terms of ‘energy’ and other cryptic euphemisms for their unwillingness or inability to work harder. [Aili is] not in that camp.”—Brett Sullivan Santry, Sperm Donor Wanted, Slow Your Role Theater Co.
“Aili taught me how to think like an actor.”—Malachi Benjamin, Glassheart, Bridgewater College Theatre
“And [thanks] Aili Huber for such fine, character-driven direction of such a strange and disturbing story. I am forever grateful for your artistic partnership.”—Katherine Mayberry, Measure for Measure, Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company
“If Aili had been my high school football coach, I would be in the NFL right now.” Student Cast Member, excerpt from Copenhagen, Hiram College
“I must commend Aili for the way she approached the intimacy of the Benedick-Beatrice relationship. I felt incredibly safe and respected and I cannot thank her enough for that. That support also helped me make bolder decisions onstage.”–Student Cast Member, Much Ado About Nothing, American Shakespeare Center Theater Camp
“My favorite part was getting to work with Aili. It was very interesting to see how someone outside of EMU does theatre. I really appreciated all of her hard work and her expectations of me.”–Student Cast Member, Love’s Labor’s Lost, Eastern Mennonite University.
“What an incredible weekend of shows! Antony and Cleopatra is the most difficult play I have ever done, exhausting and thrilling. Aili Huber directed something beautiful.”–Katherine Mayberry, Antony and Cleopatra, Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company
“If I had problems, I let Aili know, and she took time to make sure I was understanding and getting help.”–Student Cast Member, Love’s Labor’s Lost, Eastern Mennonite University.
“I think it’s pretty clear that “R & J at the Rose” has made a lot of people emotional today (some audience members cried), and I wanted to include you in the action. Although you were not with us in person, you were certainly there with us in spirit. All week, as we rehearsed, you were there with us. We talked constantly about the original intentions you had for each scene, character development, and staging that you had in mind for almost every scene. We kept as much from our original production as possible, because we loved it so much. Even today, during the audience talk back, we made sure to mention the decisions that were yours, and why we all agreed that in this re-staging, they had to stay. Even though you weren’t here with us, your hands were all over this production. I think that we would have made you proud…Miss you and I think I speak for all of us when I say we can’t wait to work with you again.”–Scott Lange, Romeo and Juliet, Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company
“Working with you is a joy, and I always learn so much. It’s almost scary how, with a simple question or two, you can lead an actor to a completely new perspective on a character or scene or moment. The passion and focus you bring in each night has a huge impact on my process, especially during the times I come in feeling a bit off.”–Ashley Normand, Richard III, Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company
“I learned how to read and perform Shakespeare—and to understand what I was saying.”–Student Cast Member, Love’s Labor’s Lost, Eastern Mennonite University.
“My favorite part of bringing JB to the stage was without a doubt the experience of working with Aili. She is a fantastic director who is really different from all the directors that I have worked with before. Her passion for theater, especially unique forms, inspires me in a lot of ways.”–Student Cast Member, JB, Eastern Mennonite University
“My favorite part of this process was working with a talented, open-minded director who was not only focused on us processing the show, but also us processing life.”–Student Cast Member, JB, Eastern Mennonite University
“Since Shakespeare wrote the play in verse, I had to make sure that I had the iambic pentameter down. I couldn’t get the fluidity down, so Aili had all of us that couldn’t get it, stomp around saying our lines. Nevertheless, it worked.” –Student Cast Member, Love’s Labor’s Lost, Eastern Mennonite University.
“My favorite part…was the creative freedom I was given to try/experiment with different blocking and emotions during the rehearsal process.”–Student Cast Member, JB, Eastern Mennonite University