The Piccolo Teatro was established on the 14th of May 1947 by Giorgio Strehler, Paolo Grassi and Nina Vinchi. It was the first public Italian theatre to be built in Italy, and the most popular on the national and international scene. The vision of the founders was to create an institution, supported by the central government and by local authorities (the Municipality and the Province of Milan, the Region of Lombardy), as a public service essential for the wellbeing of its citizens. The slogan that accompanied the birth of the Piccolo Teatro was “An Arts Theatre for Everyone” and this phrase still sums up the theatre’s mission today: to stage quality shows for the broadest possible audience. Since 1991, the Piccolo Teatro di Milano is also a “Teatro d’Europa” (Theatre of Europe), as reconfirmed by article 48 bis of the Ministerial Decree of 1 July 2014.
