“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”. 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. Entrusted, after Strehler’s death, to Ferruccio Soleri who, together with Stefano de Luca, created the version that now travels the globe, the play returns every season to Via Rovello. What is the secret of Harlequin? It is, without a doubt, the fact that it represents the continuity that characterises the history of the Milanese theatre. “Harlequin is an extraordinary event in the history of international theatre. - said Strehler -. This play 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”. And while, for decades, the mask hid the face of Ferruccio Soleri, the role is now performed by Enrico Bonavera, who describes his experience thus: “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”.