Piccolo Teatro, or the Little Theatre, was the Italian first permanent theatre founded immediately after the war by Giorgio Strehler, Paolo Grassi and Nina Venchi.

The building is divided into three rooms: Teatro Grassi, with its historic home on via Rovello, Teatro Studio Melato on Via Rivoli (the experimental space that also houses the theatre school) and Teatro Strehler on Largo Greppi, at the exit of the Lanza metro station (the main headquarters inaugurated in 1998).

From the outset, Teatro Piccolo served as an art theatre for everyone that staged quality shows to the widest audience possible. With an international repertoire that is also tied to tradition, in its sixty-year history the Piccolo has produced more than 300 shows, including 200 directed by Strehler.

These include "King Lear" and "The Tempest" by Shakespeare, "The Life of Galileo" and "The Three penny Opera" by Brecht and "The Cherry Orchard" by Chekhov.

One of the theatre's most prestigious productions to this day remains "Arlecchino, Servant of Two Masters" by Carlo Goldoni, a unique Italian show that has brought the name of Strehler and the Piccolo Teatro around the world since 1947.

Currently, in addition to plays, the theatre's stage also hosts reviews and festivals, panel discussions and in-depth cultural meetings.

Since 1991, the Piccolo Teatro in Milan has also been known as the "Theatre of Europe."