The historical archive is a place for the conservation, construction and exploration of the memory of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano.
 

Ever since it was founded, the Piccolo has put effort into safeguarding its own documentary patrimony. The organisation and creation of shows and cultural activities has been documented season after season, leading to the creation of an extensive archive. The cross-referencing of data, writings, images and objects uncovers the tapestry of relations between artists, operators, spectators and both political and institutional figures that spreads out from the local context to the furthest reaches of the international panorama. 
 

Based on these premises, the desire of the theatre is to promote access to the archive and library to a wide-ranging audience of enthusiasts, students, scholars and spectators, in line with its vocation as an “an art theatre for all”. 

The archival project currently under way aims to valorise the system of production in all its complexity, from conception to staging, and in all its forms of fruition. The arrangement of documentation from the various fields of activity – from management to artistic production (scripts, graphic and photographic material, agendas and stage reports), to administration and accounting, didactics, promotion and publications (photographs, posters, publicity and editorial material, statistics and sales) – is aimed at creating an articulated representation of the synergy between the many figures involved. The importance of the archive is further enhanced by contributions from important figures linked to the history of the Piccolo, who – together with the various projects under way – provide new views of the theatre’s activities in all their various forms. An articulated collection of printed material (posters, publications, themed press reviews) reflects the founders’ intent to create a laboratory of theatrical knowledge and information. 

The historical material is in the process of being arranged and catalogued and finding aids will be added as work progresses and material comes in. A wide range of documentation is now available for consultation related to the shows produced by the Piccolo and the types of material that the study centre has preserved since the early decades. These include, in particular, show programmes, scripts, press cuttings, musical scores and, when made, video recordings of the shows. For visual materials (stage photography, sketches, costume drawings, posters and playbills), please refer to the Eurolab project catalogue. There are also themed files and press reviews related to the organisation’s activities, its founders – Paolo Grassi, Giorgio Strehler and Nina Vinchi – and to Luca Ronconi, and the national and international activities of the theatre.

Of particular importance are the collections in the library, which provide an ample view of the activities of the organisation and various areas of theatre studies. The library holds more than 7,500 items (theatrical texts, critical writings, theatre history and documentation, etc.) as well as a collection of Italian and foreign periodicals, some of which are rare. The library catalogue is available via the SBNWeb application.  

The historical archive and the library are open to the public from Monday to Friday, from 2.30 PM to 6.30 PM (Largo Paolo Grassi 2, 20121, Milan). Access is by appointment, which can be made by writing to archivio@piccoloteatromilano.it, indicating your area of research. 
Currently, the library does not allow books to be lent out.

Projects

Photo © Masiar Pasquali