Puzzles, Ponies, and Pipeline: Cadence Hosts New Work Writer’s Retreat
Photo credit: courtesy photos
What Happens When Writers Retreat? Cadence Has the Answer
By Liv Wilson
Last weekend, six writers met at the gorgeous Indigo House in Afton, VA to embark on a 3-day journey of creativity in community. Joined by illustrious mentors Jeni Mahoney and Bob Bartlett, the all female-identifying group of playwrights and screenwriters gathered around a puzzle by the fire to lay out their goals for the retreat.
Each writer found themselves in a unique position in the writing process. Playwright Eva DeVirgilis is preparing her piece Witchduck, which she wrote during Cadence’s Pipeline Fellowship under the mentorship of David-Lindsay Abaire. The play will premiere at the Firehouse Theatre in co-production with Cadence next year. Her goal for the retreat lay in deepening and fleshing out each character, layering and refining.
Kathryn Thompson was in the later stages of a short film, sorting out the logistics to get it produced. Sanam Hashemi came with new pages hot off the press, featuring dialogue in both English and Farsi. Olivia Dinman brought in two screenplays, each at different phases with different focuses. Atlee Webber came to the retreat looking to adapt her screenplay into a stage play. I brought half of a new play and no idea what to do next.
The first night, Jeni brought wisdom from the days of Lloyd Richards at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. We were each to read ten minutes of our work by ourselves, every character, every stage direction. The exercise was not meant to be a performance by any means, but rather an opportunity for writers to say their words aloud, in front of witnesses. At the O’Neill, these readings would go on for hours, with Richards encouraging folks to bring pillows and blankets so they could sleep while the reading continued late into the night. We wrapped it up before it got to that point.
With coffee in hand and rain drizzling outside, the focus of Friday became defining the wants of our characters, arguably the most important driver of a story. What does each character yearn for and what tactics do they use to get it? Eva notes, “I loved the reminder that within the first ten pages of every musical, there's an ‘I want’ song or a clear expression of longing. It’s not just a musical theatre tool. It’s a powerful tactic for any play. Say it, sing it, and shape the play around it.” We recalled well-known works and found that, sure enough, the main character voices their wants, almost absurdly clearly, in the first ten pages of the play. We were given the prompt: What will happen if your character gets what they desire? And off we went.
We all found our own little corners around the Indigo House and watched the rain come down on the green pastures and supple woods that surrounded us. Many cups of tea later, we regrouped for lunch and mentor check-ins, reviewing stuck points and reading new pages aloud to each other. We concluded the night reading pages from my play. Now that the wants were clarified, Jeni was able to give minor direction to our wonderful actors/writers and completely change the vibe of the play for the better. Having actors in the group also added valuable knowledge around character tracking and playing positive objectives.
On Saturday, we checked in with how everyone was feeling. One of the writers expressed feeling really lost and confused about her work. The negative thoughts creep in for us all. Can I actually do this? What if I’m not good enough? What if my writing sucks and no one tells me? What if I make a fool of myself? Our ego is our biggest censor, our biggest obstacle to writing.
In response, our mentor Jeni said enthusiastically, “That’s great!” The theory being when you feel lost, hopeless about your writing and are questioning absolutely everything is usually when something awesome happens. It clicks and boom, you’re back on track. You just have to get through feeling like you are the worst writer in the world. We were given the directive to write the scene that happens before your play starts. And once again, we were off.
After another delicious lunch we took a field trip to see the rescued horses at a mini farm across the road. Kathryn did some reiki on Badger, a stallion from a ranch in Wyoming, before we headed back to the house for an afternoon writing session and mentor meetings. Atlee used the “backwards and forwards” technique, editing her screenplay from the ending to the beginning, tracking the beats and building in reverse. I was able to churn out about 25 pages past the midpoint of the play while tucked into a quiet corner. Having the time and space to sit down and write for an afternoon is a luxury not to be taken for granted.
Post-taco night, Jeni and Bob shared book recommendations and favorite quotes/words of wisdom on writing and all things creativity. We read new pages from Eva (including a new prologue!) and Sanam, before heading over to have s’mores at the fire pit and discuss our own favorite fiction books. Atlee, Eva, Olivia, and I proudly finished the puzzle, even though Eva and Olivia were adamant that they were NOT puzzle people.
The sun came out on our last morning at this beautiful place. Fueled by more coffee and denial that we had to leave, we gathered to discuss how to give feedback and other tips on the industry. Jeni and Randy shared José Rivera’s 36 Assumptions about Playwriting. One assumption has stuck with me since we read it by the fire, around the (now completed) puzzle.
“Theatre is the explanation of life to the living. Try to tease apart the conflicting noises of living, and make some kind of pattern and order. It's not so much an explanation of life as much as it is a recipe for understanding, a blueprint for navigation, a confidante with some answers, enough to guide you and encourage you, but not to dictate to you.”
This quote encapsulates why we do what we do (or try to do) when we write, and why opportunities such as this writer’s retreat are so valuable. It takes time and lots of trial and error to work through a ‘recipe for understanding.’ Eva remarks, “Anytime you can step away from the world’s daily expectations and distractions and luxuriate in craft, creativity, and community is sacred. That’s when growth happens, voices sharpen, and the next scene begins.”
Sanam noted that the “time and space to write and throw spaghetti at the wall without an expectation to produce a specific result” was the most helpful part of the experience. “We were able to be in community and deepen our practice and gab about what we had (or hadn't) written at the end of each day, without the pressures of how our "progress" measures up compared to the rest of the group… I got to be idle. I got to be bored. I got to be frustrated. I made wrong turns. Hopefully some right ones. Nothing needed to be reading-ready or performance-ready. There wasn't a page count goal or a bar we needed to clear by the end of the weekend. We were given a (beautiful) space and the luxury of time in a world that puts a premium on productivity and efficiency.”
After the weekend was behind us, I asked fellow writers to share three words to describe their experience of the retreat. Amongst the outpouring of gratitude for the incredible opportunity, words like camaraderie, glee, centering, and magnanimous came to the forefront. And of course, ponies.
