Wrapping Up a Successful Year with the 2023-2024 Pipeline New Works Fellows

Pipeline screenwriting cohort member Kathryn Thompson is no stranger to independent filmmaking. Pictured (left to right): Tyrone Harper, Shaia Scott, Royal Michelle Coakley, and Kathryn Thompson. Photo courtesy of Desiree Jones.

By Liv Wilson, Pipeline Member

In January of last year, seven playwrights and four screenwriters embarked on a journey to develop brand new pieces through Cadence’s Pipeline New Works Fellowship. Led by mentors Clay McLeod Chapman and David Lindsay-Abaire, the concept of the program was rather untraditional in comparison to other new work development processes. The focus was not to workshop an already complete script, but to build from the ground up with mentorship as the piece is written. Pipeline artists met bi-monthly to share bits and pieces of work, and to receive feedback from their peers and award-winning mentors. A year (and many, many drafts) later, the fruit of their labor is finally being harvested in a series of readings this February.

Our Pipeliners have worked tremendously hard over the last year, putting in the hours of writing, being brave enough to share incomplete work, and tirelessly supporting the other creatives in the cohort with encouraging and thoughtful feedback. It’s been quite the journey that has brought us here. One of trial and error, of vulnerability, of dedication, of courage. We asked some of our writers what they learned about themselves and their creative process through this journey.  

Playwright Michael Sullivan, who wrote a fantastic piece that features a talking St. Francis statue, remarks on his revelation of style, “I learned there’s a playwright inside me. Not really something I knew before. It was a beautiful discovery… I’ve finally found a voice that feels uniquely suited to how I like to write.” 

Eva DeVirgilis finished the first draft of her new play! Photo courtesy of Eva DeVirgilis.

“This fellowship gave me the chops to write scripts. Instead of thinking ‘I wish I could,’ I think, ‘I’m going for it,’” says playwright Eva DeVirgilis. Eva, who wrote a hilarious play entitled Witchduck during the fellowship, speaks on the courage to write something wild, to think, “This is a good idea. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I think I can figure it out and I think it may be really funny.”

For playwright and director, Andrew Gall the program affirmed that he should trust his creative instincts fully. He also recalls developing the skill of incorporating constructive feedback and the input of others in a way that “doesn’t dilute or distract from the creative direction that I might be headed with in my writing”.

Others spoke of the creative process and how it has been shaped by the accountability the fellowship provides. Juliana Caycedo, playwright and actor in the Richmond area, notes, “Writing, even when you ‘don't feel like it’ is actually kind of liberating.” The fellowship created a structure for the cohort to develop the all-essential writing routine, ensuring that folks were getting fingers on keys, consistently exercising that muscle without judgment. “You have to push through all your doubts, which for me are numerous,” notes screenwriter Rusty Baldwin, “and tell yourself, what’s the worst that could happen.”

Screenwriter Kathryn Thompson and playwright Juliana Caycedo both mentioned how valuable it was to learn from their peers, observing the writing processes of others inspired new ideas and ways of approaching their own projects. Not to mention the collective motivation that was found through recurring sharing meetings and the exchange of frequent words of encouragement to keep everyone going.

“I’ve learned that having a diverse community of soulful writers to turn to for support, feedback, and accountability is invaluable to the creative process because the success of one lifts the rest,” says playwright Eva DeVirgilis. “It matters who you surround yourself with and this fellowship has given me a cohort of not only talented, but compassionate playwrights who are committed to lifting each other up. A rising tide lifts all the boats.”

In my own experience as a playwright in the Pipeline New Works Fellowship, I found so much value in being able to go off and wrestle with the work for a bit on my own, and then to come back and tell the group how it went. How was the struggle? Where was the tension? And how can we help so that the next wrestling match isn’t the same as the one before it? Writing can be really tough and isolating. I feel so grateful to have a group that has lived with this piece alongside me for a year, a piece that would not exist without them. 

Our amazing mentors shared so many nuggets of writing wisdom with us over the last year. Members of the Pipeline cohort shared what stuck with them. Eva shares a quote from one of David’s mentors, the inimitable Marsha Norman, "Write about the thing that scares you most." This has become the heartbeat of her craft. Juliana finds herself asking, "Okay, but what is your protagonist DOING in this scene?" (Thank you David!)

Adrian recalls Clay encouraging her to “take it further.” For Adrian, this piece of advice embodies the “notion of looking for ways to push the boundaries of a given story, and going where the heart of the story leads you”. Michael and Eva both hold onto the reminder that stage time is precious and finite. “Remove everything that isn’t precious. The worst that happens if you delete something is that you’ve got a deleted version of that scene somewhere.” He offers the sage piece of wisdom, “Tell the audience as little as you can to get the point across.” 

A gem of wisdom I will always carry with me is one from David. I remember early on in the process, he said, “The most exciting scenes are when people make decisions.” I think about that simple concept constantly while writing, trying to incorporate big, bold, or at least present choices into each scene of a piece.

Now that the year has come to a close and this cohort of the Pipeline New Works Fellowship is wrapping up, what is next for our talented creatives?

On the screenwriter front, Rusty Baldwin is diving into a photography book with prose poetry that is accompanied by a documentary and also potentially an adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Fanshawe into a silent film. Kathryn Thompson hopes to make another short film, entitled “Kite Tails”, and complete “The Return To Me” series.

Pipeline playwriting cohort members met bi-monthly on Zoom with David Lindsay-Abaire. Pictured from top to bottom (left to right): Andrew Gall, Juliana Caycedo, David Lindsay-Abaire, Eva DeVirgilis, Djola Branner, Olivia Luzquinos, Liv Wilson, Irene Ziegler, and Michael Sullivan. Photo courtesy of Juliana Caycedo.

Adrian Belman is seeking producers for “Money Getters”, the film she wrote over the last year featuring five friends who become indebted to a murderous loan shark, and use P. T. Barnum's book of money-making tips to attempt to repay their debt before their families are harmed. She is also excited about developing a TV pilot called “D.I.N.K.Y,” about a high-powered duo with a perfectly-curated life, tackling the challenges of living child-free, while maintaining relationships with their family and friends.

Michael Sullivan has decided to continue his writing journey by enlisting in a program to write another play in the next few months. “This may be the greatest thing I got out of Pipeline,” says Sullivan, “that nudge off the hill and some basic, vital instructions on how to avoid trees.” In addition to her play Witchduck, Eva DeVirigilis recently wrote and acted in an environmental educational series about the Acidification of the Ocean in collaboration with Green Fin Studios and The Video Department RVA. Andrew Gall continues his work as a director, recently closing a production of Born with Teeth at Richmond Shakes. He will graduate with his MFA in Playwriting this spring.

When asked to describe their Pipeline New Works Fellowship experience in one word, the writers came back with many words. The greatest lesson in writing I’ve gotten? Supportive. Pivotal. Community-centered. Reassuring. Activating. Amazing. Precious, the kind of precious that will sustain you when it’s hardest to keep writing. Suffice to say, the last year has been one of transition, teleportation, and transformation for our writers. It’s been an incredible joy and honor to go on this journey alongside these conscientious, collaborative creatives. 

On behalf of all the playwrights and screenwriters, I would like to give a huge thank you to Anna Senechal Johnson, Clay McLeod Chapman, David and Chris Lindsay-Abaire, Irene Ziegler, Maggie Higginbotham, and all of the actors who kindly donated their time to our table reads. We simply could not and would not have done it without your brilliant mentorship, organized coordination, and overall dedication and belief in the work of emerging artists. Thank you.