Play development is my bag. I do lots of things: running writing workshops, reading plays, meeting writers, dramaturgy, a bit of lecturing. Everything I do is about facilitating people to write really good plays.

I’m currently writing a diversity action plan for the Royal Court. I run their Critical Mass programme and Unheard Voices programme. I’m working to get more diverse voices into the building via writing, and then expanding that ethic out into the whole of the organisation: communications, production, administration etc.

Nadine Renton and I started Euphoric Ink in February 2010. Our ambition and dream was to provide a playwriting service – a type of consultancy – based on workshops that take place at the convenience of those who want them. The workshops give insight, tips and tools on how to write plays as quickly and as efficiently as possible. I think people learn better in a community, in a group of like minds. Most importantly, Euphoric Ink is about helping people to tap into their creative selves, realising the wealth that they have inside them and expressing it. I’m learning as much as the students in many of the sessions, because really I’m a conductor and the creativity flying around the room is infectious.

At university I studied Social Studies – I’ve always been fascinated by people, but at that point I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. In 1983, a friend took me to a production of Woza Albert by the Market Theatre in Johannesburg in 1983 and it was brilliant, brave and political – a real epiphany. It gave me courage and that took me into the world of community theatre. From there I had the great fortune to get a job running the youth theatre at the Royal Court, which became the Young Writers Programme, which then turned into an obsession with the art of playwriting.

Theatre is all about people. The great plays are the ones that touch a nerve within the audience, and they become a community that is united in the experience. Great plays have the clarity of insight to articulate a question or idea that has not been expressed before: they show us who we are.

Lots of writers are afraid to call themselves writers. It’s important to develop the self-worth to call yourself a writer. Everything you write will not be brilliant but that’s OK. Remember, it’s not just about sitting alone in a room and sweating it out. Theatre is a communal process. There are a huge number of opportunities to develop your work: start nights, workshops, new writing events, scratch nights, monologue slams and so on.

You’ve got to be really brave and determined to write a play. Then you’ve got to be even more brave to hand it to someone else. Many people don’t want to hear this, but it’s hard work! You have to be dedicated and prepared to put the work in.

Ola Animashawun was talking to Effie Woods.

Euphoric Ink’s next fast-track introduction to playwriting is on 6 and 7 November 2010. See the website for details.