Il Piccolo Teatro di Milano e l’esperienza del decentramento teatrale : 1968-1972

After Giorgio Strehler’s leaving from the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Paolo Grassi was appointed with the role of main director of the theatre (1968-1972). During those four years - dramatically complex from a social point of view - he launched various initiatives, marking a deep change in the cultural policy of the Piccolo Teatro. The most relevant initiative is considered to be the so-called “decentramento” (delocalization) bringing the cultural offer of the theatre not only in Milan but also toward the Province of Milan and, further, the whole Regione Lombardia. The Piccolo Teatro productions were brought out of the theatre’s house and shown in unusual places, thus reaching a huge and completely new kind of audience. This initiative reached extraordinary outcomes. Though, when Grassi became managing director of La Scala, Strehler took his role back at the Piccolo but he broke up with that kind of cultural policy. He preferred to give the role of high quality “teatro d’arte” to the Piccolo Teatro.