Write, Ponder, and Wander: Cadence Hosts Second Pipeline Writer’s Retreat

By Liv Wilson 

At the end of March, fifteen writers took to the mountains. Their mission: write. No expectations of production, just time and space to create without the distractions of everyday life. Supported by five mentors from different disciplines, Cadence staff, and each other, they began their journey into the great unknown of the blank page (or in some cases, the very full pages that were keen to be reorganized).

Cadence’s second annual Pipeline Writer’s Retreat was held at Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing, amongst the gorgeous mountains of southwest Virginia and sweet smell of spring coming. In the cozy lodge, writers heard lectures from illustrious mentors, practiced yoga twice a day, and shared stories across the camp-style dinner tables. Folks gathered around the fire nightly to share s’mores and seeds of ideas that would grow into small sprouts over the course of the long-weekend.

The retreat writers were guided by mentors with incredible experience and insight in their respective industries. Playwright Bob Bartlett gave two lectures, Genre Writing for Stage and Screen and Playwrights Producing Their Own Site-Specific Work and Jeni Mahoney hosted a fantastic Rewrite Workshop. A solid reminder that we all need to embrace rewriting because 99% of the time we are writing the wrong thing, and we only write the right thing once. On the filmmaking side, Virginia Bertholet let us in on industry secrets in her talk How to Think Like a Producer and Heather Waters shared a new conceptualization of story structure in The Power of Story: From Idea to Impact. Finally, Rion Amilcar Scott took us to the world of prose with his phenomenal lecture, Dangerous Satires: Writing Ridiculousness for Ridiculous Times. Twice daily, Laine Satterfield led Yoga for the Artist on the back porch of the lodge for folks to stretch out before sitting down and getting to work.

As a playwright with a full-time job outside the industry, I was so grateful for the uninterrupted time Cadence afforded us to just be in a creative headspace. Our only job was to create, without expectation. How rare is that in this world? (Hint: extremely rare.) Three meals a day with brilliant writers amidst the mountains. What more could one ask for? I’ll share a little more about my experience later on, but first I want to highlight the journeys of other folks at the retreat. What did they work on? What were they inspired by? What are they taking with them back into the ‘real world’?

Alana Sharp is a member of the Actor’s Equity Association, having performed in countless professional productions across the Commonwealth. Sharp came to the retreat to work on a play script loosely based on real-life. Sharp shared that working one-on-one with mentor Jeni Mahoney was transformational, not only because of the personal connection they shared around the subject matter, but the positive, engaging way Jeni approached the work together.

Sharp also acknowledged the rarity of an experience like this one. “In my life, I’m generally surrounded by ‘muggles’ (regular people) so any time I get a chance to be surrounded by artists, I am inspired…It was amazing to have absolutely nothing to do but focus on writing.” Listening to the lectures, hearing work from other folks, and sharing some of her own, gave Alana the energy to keep writing, along with the transformative nature of springtime cultivating a blossoming environment for both our creativity and the ecology around us. 

For playwright, Pat Connelly, it had been a long time since she had been in a playwriting conference or retreat and she didn't quite know what to expect. She set out to revise a play of hers that is being produced later this year and found it profoundly inspiring to be among so many dramatic writers and storytellers for four days. 

Pat reflects, “The mentors' lectures were all inspiring and gave me both inspiration and insight in looking at my current revision as well as other work. Jeni Mahoney, with whom I met one-on-one, helped me look at the big picture and what's most important to my story and my main characters. She emphasized the listening that's so important for my characters… [and] encouraged me to write some scenes that may or may not appear in the play, but which will help establish my characters' intentions. I am still in the process of revisions but my conversations with Jeni are still at the forefront of my revising.”

Connelly was also excited by Bob Barlett's lecture about site-specific work. “I've seen one of those [site-specific] plays of his and, as an audience member, I felt so enmeshed in the work, almost a part of the story, and thought it was a great way to do theater. I immediately started thinking about a site-specific piece I want to write.” 

The other thing Pat appreciated was the mix of stage writers and screenwriters, along with the film producing mentors. She met such a variety of artists and writers who shared their stories that she had a hard time quieting her brain at night. While Connelly has been a playwright and director for many years, she’s always been curious about screenwriting and filmmaking and has been pondering those mediums more since the weekend.

Playwright, Irene Ziegler, “loved nerding out on the conversations about recent plays people had seen, and how they are emblematic of changes in audience recruitment and retention, and where theatre will go from here.” She found herself wondering: What will be the important issues in 5 or 10 years? Should we be writing those stories now? 

Drama therapist and creative, Alex Ginsberg, spoke of the warmth and depth of the community curated at the retreat. “It filled my spirit to witness the bravery and love in everyone's open-hearted sharing and I felt so lucky to have space to share the idea for my piece in the company of truly supportive creating colleagues. I feel like I have a new (much longed for) creative home!”

Theresa Carpinelli, a museum professional, dramaturg, and interdisciplinary artist, came to the retreat from a different angle. She spent her time at the retreat closely reading the newest edition of the script for a new immersive musical she is assisting with, taking notes, listening to the new music, and doing research on immersive theatrical experiences. Carpinelli notes, “Jeni’s workshop on rewriting and the conversations started during Bob’s site specific theatre lecture were incredibly helpful as they allowed me to further understand the writing process, mind of a playwright, and how to best mold my feedback as an artistic collaborator.” 

Theresa also felt inspired by the nature surrounding the campsite. “Getting to spend whole days outside, hiking, and doing yoga in the beautiful weather was certainly an inspiration for me to do my best work.” She also found sparks in conversations had with other artists at the retreat. “It was a joy to hear about what others are working on and to be able to carry those discussions into my notes and how I communicate with other writers.” 

On the last day of the retreat, mentor Jeni Mahoney spoke of this wonderful weekend, this incredible box of an experience and all the things we learned. As we were to return to our ‘normal lives’, she encouraged us all to keep the lid open. Don’t let this box of creative sparks and generative momentum collect dust on the shelf. Keep the lid open.

Theresa says she’s still thinking about many of the deep conversations had with other participants at the retreat and the one-on-one time spent with new friends and mentors. The big questions posed by presenters and participants alike about the state of theatre are also still swimming in her consciousness and “will continue to impact [her] theatrical work for days to come!”

Alana is taking away a sense of confidence. “Writing is such a solitary endeavor (especially compared to acting which is completely collaborative)... and getting a positive reaction from people told me [they] were understanding what I was trying to convey, that I was telling my story the way I wanted to.”  

Pat is still replaying conversations with Jeni about her current project and keeping her site-specific project in the box, along with screenwriting and filmmaking ideas– with the lid open! Alex is deeply in process now, “creating the piece that's been in [her] for a looooong time.” The lid to the box is firmly open, so stay tuned. 

I started a new play over the retreat weekend about fish and divorce. On the last night, I had the opportunity to have pages read aloud by the group (after having cod for dinner, no less!). It was an absolute joy to share work very much in progress with a community of supportive, curious creatives and lit a fire under me to write the darn thing! I am keeping the lid open on the generative momentum that was cultivated during the retreat and the encouragement by others to just keep going. 

Photo credits:  Virginia Bertholet, Rebecca Wahls and Anna Senechal Johnson.