Richard Strand didn’t plan to be a playwright. He wanted to direct a one act for a college exercise but didn’t want to wade through plays to find one, so he wrote his own. Students were not allowed to direct a play they’d written but Richard waited until the professor who instituted this policy went on sabbatical, and then directed his own play. That one act, called Harry and Sylvia, was easy to write and won several awards encouraging him to write more. Richard says that if that professor hasn’t gone on sabbatical he would be a playwright today. In this interesting interview Richard talks about play writing, play structure, where he learned to write and how and why he wrote Butler, currently running at Florida Studio Theater, which he never expected to get produced and surprised him by becoming his most successful play. Also listen to Sharon Lesley’s review of Butler, which will certainly encourage you to go and see it.