| Biography | Leonardo Shapiro was an American director, writer, and designer for experimental theater. He founded the Shaliko Company in 1972. During the next 20 years, Shapiro directed, wrote, and designed productions for the company, as well as working as an independent director. Shaliko was based at the Public Theater from 1974 to 1976, and at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club from 1983 to 1992.
Many Shaliko productions were original works which Shapiro adapted from other sources, such as 1986's The Yellow House, based on Vincent Van Gogh's correspondence with his brother Theo, 1987's Punch!, adapted from Punch and Judy, and 1990's Strangers, which incorporated texts such as news stories and court transcripts.
From the 1970s onward, Shapiro led theater workshops and taught classes at various universities. In 1986, Shapiro worked with Trinity College to establish a New York-based performing arts program, in conjunction with La MaMa. Shapiro directed the Trinity/La MaMa Performing Arts Program from 1986 to 1992.
Partially in response to difficulties in obtaining funding for Shaliko, Shapiro dissolved the company in 1992 and moved back to New Mexico. There, he worked on scripts for radio and television, as well as Who Stole Summer?, a show performed by children in 1994. In 1993, he traveled to India to direct a Bengali-language production of Endgame. |