DIRECTING
Burying the Lead - a devised work created by the THP201AA Class following our transition online due to the pandemic
Film by Megan Hughes Rini, written alongside THP201AA students with including Megan's art direction and production work - Estrella Mountain Community College, May 2020
“When COVID-19 halted production of the full-length play “Stop Kiss,” Estrella Mountain Community College’s (EMCC) Theater Production class had to improvise.” - EMCC NEWS: https://tinyurl.com/y28qr8er
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Boys' Life by Howard Korder
Directed by Megan Hughes Rini - Estrella Mountain Community College, April 2019
DIRECTOR'S NOTE:
“Let’s pretend you could do anything you wanted to. And whatever you did, nobody could blame you for it...you would be totally free. You wouldn’t have to make promises and you wouldn’t have to lie. All you would have to do is know how you feel. Just that...what would you do?” In a world where we are constantly bombarded by ways to express ourselves and outlets to do so, we have the opportunity to share who we are and what we think with the world, more so than ever before. How do we identify ourselves? How does the world see us? How much do we care, and what really matters? In New York City in 1988, even without social media, dating apps or the Internet, our characters still find themselves struggling with the world’s expectations and their own. They are finally “grown-ups,” but what happens next? What does it mean to be a man and no longer a boy? A woman, no longer a girl? Boys’ Life asks us to consider the ideas of love and morality, toxic masculinity and gender norms, consent and responsibility in the midst of the AIDS crisis and before the #metoo era or the Internet. These characters strive as we do today to discover who they are and what they want, only to find out that they are the determinants of their own identities. |
These Shining Lives by Melanie Marnich
Directed by Megan Hughes Rini - Estrella Mountain Community College, April 2018
DIRECTOR'S NOTE:
“This isn’t a fairy tale, though it starts like one. It’s not a tragedy, though it ends like one...” This is a story about women and their battle for survival, and their fight for the survival of all who followed them. They were women similar to the ones you know today, women like the two daughters that I am raising, women who just wanted to LIVE. They loved their families and friends, and they loved their newfound freedoms after fighting for and winning the right to vote just 2 years before this play begins. They were gracious and trusting, genuine and hard working. But, for the companies they worked for – Radium Dial and USRC – they were expendable. Their journey with radium began more than 100 years ago in Orange, New Jersey and concluded in Ottawa, Illinois. Most have never heard of them or their contributions to our society and labor laws – how they exposed the true dangers of radium and held the companies responsible to account. A statue wasn’t erected in their honor until 2011. A comprehensive book about their story wasn’t written until 2017. Another round of women experienced radium poisoning in the same way and by the same method in the 1970s – as there were still so many who did not believe their story. Catherine, Charlotte, Frances and Pearl glowed in their youth with pride in their work. They had shown in the headlines of the local papers that could not quite grasp the consequences of their stories. And, they still radiate to this day, from their graves. It is an honor to share their tale and we ask you to do the same. It is long overdue |
Savage/Love by Sam Shepard and Joseph Chakin
Directed by Megan Hughes Rini - St. Olaf College, March 2006
WRITING/PRODUCING
Our Studio Created by Adam Rini & Megan Hughes Rini
Directed by Adam Rini + Produced by Megan Hughes Rini - OMF Productions, Released October 2014
WATCH HERE!
Adam Rini (Voyage Trekkers) directs, edits and stars in the series. His wife and co-creator, Megan Hughes (Hotel Pennsylvania) stars and produces. The crew is a talented duo of emerging filmmakers, Derek Shane Garcia & Daniel Bida. Both attended SUNY Purchase’s film school. The cast is an awesome collection of actors and artists, many of whom have their MFA in Acting from the New School for Drama. Our Studio is an honest and hilarious look at the lives of twenty- to thirty-somethings as they navigate life in the huge and often intimidating New York City where living spaces are of small proportions and the characters’ dreams are larger than life. Rini and Hughes funded the series through an IndieGoGo campaign they set up in place of a registry for their October 20th, 2013 wedding. They were happy to premiere the first episode exactly one year later and were inspired to create Our Studio after living in a couple of studios in Harlem. The first studio was only 240 sq. ft. and their current studio feels much larger at 270 sq. ft. The 30 additional square footage allows them to have two windows and a closet! |
PRODUCING
The Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco
Directed by Tim Butterfield + Produced by Megan Hughes Rini - Estrella Mountain Community College, November 2019
This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan
Directed by Ricky Quintana + Produced by Megan Hughes Rini - Estrella Mountain Community College, November 2018
Proof by David Auburn
Directed by Tim Butterfield + Produced by Megan Hughes Rini - Estrella Mountain Community College, November 2017