Cadence Pipeline Retreat 2026
In the company of writers
Writing a compelling story requires imagination and time—time to write, ponder, and wander, often away from the comforts and distractions of home. Writers, as mostly solitary artists, often crave the company of other writers and the sharing of inspiration, process, and fellowship. Join Cadence this spring as we gather playwrights and screenwriters for a focused and immersive retreat at Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing (WAEL), near Roanoke, Virginia.
Through a series of panels and workshops, participants will explore how different environments can influence their stories—and how their inimitable vision brings them to life. In addition to generous independent writing time, the retreat features six group workshops led by industry experts in playwriting and screenwriting, yoga sessions, biking, trail hiking, and evening bonfires—all designed to inspire creativity, connection, and renewal.
Set within WAEL’s vibrant, adventure-rich environment—known for live music, yoga retreats, and outdoor activities—the Cadence Pipeline New Works Retreat offers the ideal balance of solitude and collaboration. Writers will have space to develop new work, participate in work-in-progress readings, engage in meaningful conversations with visiting professional artists, and receive personal feedback within a supportive community of fellow creators.
Tuition covers lodging, meals, and all workshops, including small-group sessions, opportunities for collaboration and readings, and immersive experiences designed to help new stories take shape and thrive.
Tuition
Private Room
$595 (payment in full)
$645 (with a 3-month payment plan*)
Shared Room
$297.50 (payment in full)
$345 (with a 3-month payment plan*)
Optional $150 van transportation (full payment required at time of enrollment)
*Non-refundable $100 deposit required at time of registration for payment plans
Location
Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing — 11176 Peaceful Valley Rd, New Castle, VA 24127
Schedule
March 26-29, 2026 @ Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing
Schedule is subject to change. Writers wishing to schedule one-on-one feedback sessions may coordinate directly with workshop mentors during free time.
DAY 14 PM Arrival / Get settled
5 PM Introductions, schedule, objectives
6 PM Welcome Dinner
7 PM Introductory Session / Q&A / Setting the tone
7:30 PM Genre Writing for Stage and Screen (Bob Bartlett)
9 PM Writing time
DAY 2 8 AM Breakfast
8-11 AM Roundtable / Writing time
10 AM Yoga for the Artist
11 AM How to Think Like a Producer (Virginia Bertholet)
12 PM Lunch
1:30 PM The Power of Story: From Idea to Impact (Heather Waters)
3 PM Yoga for the Artist
4-6 PM Freestyle / Nature Activity
6 PM Dinner
7:30 PM Rewrite Workshop (Jeni Mahoney)
9 PM Bonfire / Writing time
DAY 38 AM Breakfast
8-11 AM Roundtable / Writing time
10 AM Yoga for the Artist
11 AM Playwrights Producing Their Own Site-Specific Work (Bob Bartlett)
12 PM Lunch
1:30 PM Dangerous Satires: Writing Ridiculousness for Ridiculous Times (Rion Amilcar Scott)
3 PM Yoga for the Artist
4-6 PM Freestyle / Nature Activity
6 PM Dinner
7:30 PM Evening Share
9 PM Writing time
DAY 48 AM Breakfast
9 AM Wrapping Up / Closing Circle
11 AM Departure
Workshops
Playwrights Producing Their Own Site-Specific Work
with Bob Bartlett
Fringe Festivals, Playwrights’ Collectives, and Other
Self-Producing Strategies
So you’ve got a script—and another, and another—sitting in your desk drawer (virtual or physical) that no one wants to read, let alone produce. So now what? Do it yourself. Humans have been creating and sharing theatre—and their unwanted stories—since we first gathered around bonfires and huddled in caves.
This workshop explores methods of creating and producing DIY theatre (and film) in a wide range of locations. After all, all the world’s a stage.
Dangerous Satires: Writing Ridiculousness for Ridiculous Times with Rion Amilcar Scott
The most ridiculous times call for ridiculous responses. Sometimes mockery and laughter are the most subversive ways fiction can address the outrages of an outrageous society. In this workshop, participants will examine approaches and assumptions underpinning satirical fiction, drawing from writers such as Aaron McGruder, Nafissa Thompson-Spires, Ralph Ellison, Maurice Ruffin, George Saunders, and others.
Why do we tell stories—and why do some stay with us long after the curtain falls or the screen goes dark? This workshop centers on creating characters you genuinely care about—characters whose desires, contradictions, and humanity invite audiences to invest emotionally. Participants will explore how character-driven storytelling transforms early ideas or rough outlines into projects with heart, clarity, and momentum.
Designed for writers and filmmakers, this session focuses on the emotional and narrative foundations of storytelling, examining how strong characters shape compelling arcs and lasting impact, and how deeply personal creative impulses can guide projects toward meaningful realization.
The Power of Story: From Idea to Impact with Heather Waters
Rewrite Workshop
with Jeni Mahoney
Rewriting isn’t just about fixing mistakes—it’s about elevating your story to its full potential. Too often, writers find themselves trapped in cycles of tweaking moments or responding to questions others want answered, without returning to their own impulses, creative instincts, or innate curiosity. In this generative workshop, participants will explore specific tools and exercises designed to expand and ultimately refine the rewriting process.
If you’re stuck, unsure what to do next, feeling uninspired, or simply need to shake things loose and reclaim your creative process, this workshop may be just what you need.
Wake Up / Wind Down:
Yoga for the Artist
with Laine Satterfield
As artists, we all need time to slow down and reconnect with our bodies and breath so creativity can flow more freely. Join Laine in the morning or afternoon to explore the mind-body-spirit connection through breathwork, held poses, and gentle movement. All levels are welcome.
Genre Writing for Stage and Screen with Bob Bartlett
Theatre, ever evolving, moves in cycles, often mirroring the spirit or mood of the times—which may explain the renewed popularity of Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries on American stages. Despite this resurgence, contemporary theatre often resists formulaic storytelling. Film and television, however, are proudly dominated by genre: drama, comedy, romantic comedy, science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and countless subgenres.
In this workshop, participants will explore writing genre for the stage and screen and discuss why genre remains underutilized in contemporary theatre.
How to Think Like a Producer with Virginia Bertholet
Great films don’t just happen—they’re produced. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn to see their projects through a producer’s lens: balancing creativity with strategy, vision with logistics, and storytelling with sustainability. From budgeting and scheduling to pitching to investors, this session demystifies the producer’s role and offers practical tools to move projects from concept to completion.
The workshop will also examine current industry trends, including short films and the rapidly expanding world of vertical storytelling, and how these formats can serve as viable, strategic entry points for today’s creators. Participants will explore how to position projects within these evolving forms while maintaining artistic integrity and long-term sustainability. This session is ideal for filmmakers, writers, and artists ready to turn ideas into actionable, producible plans.
Meet Your Mentors
Bob Bartlett
Pipeline New Works Retreat Mentor
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Bob Bartlett is an affiliated artist with the National New Play Network and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. He has produced site-specific work in laundromats, wooded clearings, and historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC. Bob earned his MFA in Playwriting from The Catholic University of America and is a longtime member of the theatre faculty at Bowie State University, where he teaches playwriting, screenwriting, dramatic literature, and theory. He is also a founding member of The Welders, a Washington, DC–based producing playwrights’ collective.
Virginia Bertholet
Pipeline New Works Retreat Mentor
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Virginia Bertholet, originally from Staunton, Virginia, discovered her passion for visual storytelling in a film class. After earning a B.S. in Mass Communications from VCU, she worked in New York, Los Angeles, and beyond before returning to Virginia. Her career spans movie development, independent production, work with The Martin Agency, and the Virginia Film Office, with projects ranging from documentaries to social media campaigns. Her work—both for clients and her own—has earned more than 100 awards. A former faculty member at VCU and George Mason University, Virginia taught film production and the business of filmmaking and continues to mentor emerging filmmakers. She also serves on the board of Women in Film & Video / DC.
Laine Satterfield
Pipeline New Works Retreat Mentor
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Laine Satterfield discovered yoga at 19 through Jivamukti Yoga under the leadership of Sharon Gannon and David Life. Since then, she has continued her personal practice while exploring a range of teachings and styles. She integrates yoga into her theatre classes and has taught in New York City, Virginia, Idaho, Italy, and Denmark, with a strong focus on Vinyasa, Ashtanga, and Pranayama. Laine believes all artists benefit from yoga as a practice of “union”—connecting mind, body, and spirit.
Jeni Mahoney
Pipeline New Works Retreat Mentor
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Jeni Mahoney is a playwright, director, dramaturg, teacher, and Founder of Seven Devils New Play Foundry and its esteemed Playwrights Conference, where she served as Producing Artistic Director for 23 years and was instrumental in the development of more than 260 new American plays. Inducted into the IndieTheatre Hall of Fame in 2014, Jeni is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the National Theatre Conference, where she served on the board for six years. She currently serves on the boards of Open Sky, Fleischer Studios, and Seven Devils New Play Foundry as an Honorary Board Member, and teaches at Stonecoast, the University of Southern Maine’s low-residency MFA in Creative Writing Program.
Rion Amilcar Scott
Pipeline New Works Retreat Mentor
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Rion Amilcar Scott is the author of The World Doesn’t Require You and Insurrections, which won the 2017 PEN/Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction and the Hillsdale Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He teaches creative writing at the University of Maryland. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Kenyon Review, Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, and McSweeney’s Quarterly, among others.
Heather Waters
Pipeline New Works Retreat Mentor
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Heather Waters is a producer, director, and CEO known for her visionary leadership in film, music, and the arts. She is the Founder and Producer of the Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF), one of the largest on the East Coast; Co-Founder of Creative World Awards, a bi-coastal development company serving writers worldwide; and President of the RIFF Arts Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to artist development. She also created The Indie MIX, a web platform that connects creators, facilitates project funding, and streamlines production management.
Ready to Apply?
To apply for the Pipeline New Works Retreat, submit the following form and your resume by February 16.
Applicants who are selected will be notified via email by February 20.
All writers are encouraged to apply for the Pipeline New Works retreat. If you have a disability and benefit from a reasonable accommodation to fully engage in the application and/or retreat, please reach out to our Accessibility Coordinator, Maura, at maura@cadencetheatre.org. She will work with you to ensure the process is accessible to you. Requests should be made as early as possible to allow for adequate planning.
Please feel free to email Laine Satterfield, Cadence Director of Education at laine@cadencetheatre.org with any questions.
Sponsors
This program was made possible through the generous support of the following sponsors:
