“This timeless Harlequin is characterised by the passage and renewal of life. It is blood that pulses and flows through the veins of a theatre both real and imaginary, just like in the human body. It has accompanied us for a lifetime, renewing time after time. Hundreds of actors have performed it. There are spectators that have seen it created, and then reborn, year after year; it has been recognised nationwide and worldwide”. This is how Giorgio Strehler described the play that he created in the summer of 1947 and renewed for 10 editions, up to the 50th anniversary of the Piccolo in 1997. Entrusted, following the death of the director (the 25th anniversary of which will be celebrated in December 2022), to Ferruccio Soleri – who, together with Stefano de Luca, has created the current edition and who, for the 2018/19 season, passed the baton to Enrico Bonavera – the play, adds de Luca “has a life of its own, even becoming a separate entity from that infusion of its creator and the actors who in turn have performed the various roles. The actors leave their mark and move on, the masks remain, reaching into eternity”. And while, for decades, the mask hid the face of Ferruccio Soleri, the role is now performed by Enrico Bonavera, who since 2000 switched between the roles of Brighella and Harlequin, who has this to say of his experience: “Everywhere I have been, I have experienced, together with the rest of the company, the joy of coming out on stage after the final dance, to take the applause hand in hand, to be part of a wonderful community, united by the same, magnificent dream”.