Leonard Madrid Passing On His Theatre Knowledge

By Todd Fuqua

The path Leonard Madrid (BFA 97) took to reach a career in live theatre started with his parents.

“They took a workshop at ENMU with Luis Valdez, with the Teatro Campesino of California,” Madrid said. “The theatre was touring the borderlands of the U.S., and theatre companies started popping up everywhere they had gone. After the workshop, my parents believed their three kids would become a lawyer, a priest, and one in the theatre.”

Leonard is the only one to fulfill his parents’ prophecy, having earned his fine arts degree and running a small ensemble theatre company called Blackout in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He’s also an accomplished playwright, producing a few productions, including a special show in Mexico City.

He won an award from the Kennedy Center for playwrighting, which got his career going.

“I began connecting with some people in the business and was lucky for my plays to be performed in the right places at the right times,” Leonard said. “The low buzz kept getting louder, more like a river digging a canyon than capturing lightning in a bottle. It’s all about finding people who love your work and will support you.”

He has also taught the art of theater at West Mesa High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the University of New Mexico, and was the Theatre Department chair at Central New Mexico Community College. Leonard returned to ENMU in 2022 as an associate professor of theatre.

This talented Greyhound grad believes it is his duty to pass on his knowledge of how to put on a theatre production and what theatre can truly be.

“It’s a lot of different things, not just a bunch of big expensive shows on Broadway,” Leonard said. “Most don’t realize you end up creating a lot of little plays with many other people with the same idea. Part of the obligation of being an artist is teaching others how to do it.

“There’s so many amazing companies and projects you can work with in theatre,” he added. “It can be local, and it can be regional. You just have to go out there and do it.”

Leonard should know, as he’s written several plays from a personal perspective, including one titled “Aurora,” an adaptation of the Greek play Alcestis, with the play’s locale moved to Mora, New Mexico. “(Alcestis is) one of the only Greek tragedies with a happy ending,” is how Leonard put it.

“Aurora” premiered at a festival of Latin works in Mexico City, where Leonard experienced a great deal of artistic styles from across the Latin American world.

“I learned so much observing all these companies from other countries and how they do things,” he said. “It was a humbling experience.”

Now he’s passing that experience on to students at his alma mater. “These students aren’t just a newer version of me, as there have been so many societal changes since I was in college,” Leonard said. “My education was part of a never-ending process, and it’s my job to evolve the curriculum to meet the next generation of students’ needs.”