A Playwriting Retreat in Pembrokeshire with Eva O’Connor

This December, I’ll be co-hosting my first ever playwriting retreat with my beloved friend, award-winning playwright and wildly talented performer Eva O’Connor.

The four-night retreat will run from Wednesday 2 to Sunday 6 December 2026, in the beautiful old rectory on the Pembrokeshire coast that has been home to my writing and meditation retreats for the last two years.

And perhaps the most important thing to know from the beginning is this: you absolutely do not have to consider yourself a playwright to come.

How the playwriting retreat came about

Eva has been assisting on my writing and meditation retreats for the past 18 months. When we were at the Edinburgh Fringe together this summer, feeling more inspired than ever by the possibilities of theatre-making, the idea for a playwriting retreat was born.

Eva was at the Fringe with her newest play, For Dolores. Her work has been produced in Ireland, the UK and internationally, and her plays have won multiple awards, including a Scotsman Fringe First for Mustard, which was later adapted for television by RTÉ. Overshadowed was adapted as a short-form series for BBC Three.

Eva’s work often brings the personal and political into conversation, something that has always connected our creative lives. She campaigned for the repeal of Ireland’s Eighth Amendment, with her play Maz & Bricks touring Ireland in the lead-up to the historic 2018 referendum.

Most recently, For Dolores sold out at both Galway International Arts Festival and the Traverse Theatre during the Edinburgh Fringe, where it won a Braggi Award for excellence in new writing.

Our friendship has been the inspiration for so much of my own writing, and I’m delighted that Eva will now be bringing all of that experience to a retreat of our own.

Why you don’t need to be a playwright to attend

I’ve never written a play before either. I’ll be writing alongside the other retreatants, absorbing Eva’s wisdom and exploring what writing for the stage might open up in my own work.

There is so much that writers working in other forms can learn from playwriting. We’ll explore dialogue, character, conflict and dramatic structure, and think about what changes when we begin imagining our words not simply on the page, but embodied and performed.

It’s one of the reasons I remain so passionate about working in a genre-fluid way across my own writing and teaching work.

What to expect from the retreat

The playwriting workshops will sit within the same structure that has shaped my writing and meditation retreats in Pembrokeshire over the past two years.

Eva will lead dedicated playwriting workshops each day, exploring the craft of writing for the stage, alongside prompts and opportunities to experiment with your own work.

There will also be long stretches of uninterrupted writing time, morning meditation, shared silence, community circles and our digital detox.

Afternoons offer time to walk along the Pembrokeshire coast, swim in the sea, read, rest and spend time with other writers. And, as ever, our wonderful chef Martin will be keeping us very well fed with delicious plant-based meals throughout our stay.

The intention isn’t to arrive on Wednesday and leave on Sunday with a finished play.

It’s to give ourselves four days to experiment with another form, learn from an extraordinary playwright, pay close attention to character and dialogue, and see what becomes possible when we give our writing our full attention.

Join us in Pembrokeshire

The Playwriting Retreat with Eva O’Connor runs from Wednesday 2 to Sunday 6 December 2026 on the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales.

Places start from £625, with shared and private rooms available, and you can secure your place with a £175 deposit.

If you’re curious about playwriting, or simply want to explore what writing for the stage might open up in your work, it would be a pleasure to have you with us.

I think it’s going to be a really special four days.

Hello, I’m Holly.

I offer creative writing retreats in Pembrokeshire, online writing groups, book mentoring and editorial support.

I’d love to hear from you. If you have any questions about my retreats or how we might work together, please get in touch using the form below.