Piccolo Teatro is the first permanent public theatre in Italy. Founded in 1947 by Giorgio Strehler, Paolo Grassi, and Nina Vinchi, it comprises three venues besides the Paolo Grassi Drama School.

Our collaboration began on the occasion of the first season under the leadership of Claudio Longhi. The main idea was to create a more inclusive and contemporary image but still true to the motto "An Art Theater for All".

We developed the show's communication campaigns, from the image of an innovative online stage called Piccolo SMART to the following theatrical seasons and the International Festival "Presente Indicativo".

Founded as a necessary public service to the citizens' Piccolo Teatro has adopted the statement "Teatro d'Arte per Tutti" (Art theatre for all) since its birth. A principle that still sums up its mission today: to bring on stage quality shows for as many people as possible.

In addition to its rich annual shows programme, the venues host cultural events, from festivals and films to concerts, conferences, and conventions. 

We developed a step-by-step project stuck with the cultural offer defined by the new artistic director. That was to make the theatre and its voice more interesting for a new audience and keep it relevant on the international scene.

Launched in reaction to the lockdown period due to the pandemic, Piccolo Smart opened on the web as the fourth stage of the theatre. A virtual place to be enjoyed anytime, anywhere. To promote its wide range of contents, we created an identity that could communicate fluidity, flexibility, eclecticism, and light.  

The result is a vibrant and changing palette of colours that fades and blends to represent the free flow of inspiration and creativity after the long period of mandatory closure that hit theatres so hard.

The summer festival Ogni Volta Unica la Fine del Mondo ( i.e. Every time unique the end of the world) marks the reopening of theatres after the pandemic. The campaign focused on sustainability, which spread over the narrative theatre, choreography, the exploration of thought and new dramaturgy, with events, meetings, readings and workshops for children to be held on the Nina Vinchi Cloister and in the various Municipalities of Milan.

Our concept depicts a future in which a new nature made by fantastic animals and botanical engravings takes back its space on a stage full of bright colours that spread a positive message of rebirth.

The image created for Teatro d'Arte per Tutti season focused on extensive use of the collage technique with images strongly related to the shows, full use of typography, a sequence of bright colours and a bowed outline used as an emblematic symbol of the theatre.

The visual concept embraces online and offline communication, from visual identity to the theatrical season program, from posters and merchandising to social media content that addresses its message to both most loyal and new audiences.

To strengthen the meaning of - a theatre for all - we moved towards a more immediate and emotional language highlighting the topics of the shows.

Thus the images from the stage disappeared just like the faces of actors and directors, and new ones that are meaningful to the public and the authors took up a central role in the communication materials.

Presente Indicativo is the international festival that celebrates Giorgio Strehler and the role a theatre should play in tomorrow's society. The project connects with the idea of the festival and a new theatre able to look forward while living actively in the present time.

Hence the idea of using cut-out pages taken from various newspapers matching current events to the upcoming shows juxtaposing the images with coloured silhouettes.

A collection of landscapes that represents a variety of very different shows and the encounter between art and real life. An experience that the theatre would like to share beyond scenes renewing its political role as the intent of its founder.