An “Art Theatre for Everyone” for today.

The Piccolo Teatro di Milano has launched a three-year observatory on theatre audiences, with the aim of fostering exchange, analysis and shared views of the role of the spectator today, and on the evolution of the way in which the theatre is seen, experienced and shared.

Who, today, are the “all” of the “Art Theatre for Everyone”? We will be seeking to answer this question through a series of conferences that are running parallel to our programming until 2027.
 

It is a process that began with an initial reflection on the composition of Milanese audiences, forming part of the calendar of initiatives for the 80th anniversary of the founding of AGIS, the Italian General Association of Performing Arts, to then expand the field to international audiences in May 2026 – on the occasion of the Presente Indicativo Festival –, to then complete its investigations in 2027 with a final encounter during the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Piccolo.

 

THE 2025 CONVENTION: I PUBBLICI DELLA MILANO CHE CAMBIA (the audiences of an evolving Milan)
Friday 24 and Saturday 25 October 2025 | Teatro Grassi

In a city that is constantly evolving, immersed in a present dominated by the multiplication of images and a stream of new forms of “visual consumption”, it is important – in the manner of Pirandello – to turn around the spyglass and to shift the focus of the lens from the “object” of entertainment to that mobile – at times constantly shifting – line that serves as the axis along which the position of the theatrical audience, or better still, theatrical audiences oscillates, multiplying through a process of a branching of viewpoints that Luca Ronconi had plotted with such clarity in 2012 when he stated: «[...] I do not like the idea of having to reduce 500, 200, 80 or 1000 people during a theatrical event to an audience. If there are 1000 people, I like to consider them as one thousand audiences, with each spectator present representing one audience».

A reflection of the city that it is called on to represent, the theatre thus assumes the role of a place that is home to multiple and diversified interactions between individuals and groups, a space for encounters between needs, expectations, values and desires in which dialogue can become living matter. Immersing itself in this current, in an attempt to analyse the dynamics of meaning that lie at the foundations, and the paths that emerge, the convention aims to promote a process of collective analysis and reflection on the current role of the spectator and on how the way we observe, inhabit and share the theatre is changing. With the conviction, paraphrasing Paolo Grassi, that only through the involvement and the raising of awareness on the entity of «the new audience can we resolve the matter of the authentic vitality of Italian performance. It is not an easy task», he added, «but it is a fascinating one».

The focus of the convention is the composition of the Milanese audience, seen through two distinct moments: a phase of analysis and exchange expressed through a series of themed debates, and a phase of public presentation, in which the results of the debates are shared and discussed with all the figures involved. 
 

THEMED DISCUSSIONS AND CHAIRS

      ➝ Anna Piletti: Generazioni in scena: il teatro e la scuola per i cittadini di domani (generations on stage: theatre and school for the citizens of the future)
      ➝ Maddalena Giovannelli: Pubblico in transito? La sfida degli under 35 (a shifting audience. The challenge of the under-35s)
      ➝ Andrea Rebaglio: Valorizzare la moltitudine: metamorfosi, aspettative e fruizione del “pubblico adulto” (Celebrating the multitude: metamorphosis, expectations and consumption of the “adult audience”)
      ➝ Ginevra Bocconcelli: Quando non vengo a teatro: il pubblico con disabilità e/o necessità specifiche (When I don’t go to the theatre: audiences with disabilities and/or special requirements)
      ➝ Noemi Satta: Quando non vengo a teatro: traiettorie, moventi e ostacoli per il coinvolgimento del pubblico (When I don’t go to the theatre: paths, movements and obstacles for involving audiences)
      ➝ Marianna d'Ovidio: Decentrare lo sguardo: abitare i teatri, gli spazi e i quartieri (Decentralising the gaze: inhabiting theatres, spaces and districts)
      ➝ Oliviero Ponte di Pino: Milano vicino all’Europa (e non solo): i pubblici internazionali (Milan embracing Europe, and beyond: international audiences)
 
The plenary sessions, open to the public, were coordinated by Alberto Bentoglio (University of Milan).

Download the research on audiences for performances in Milan carried out by AGIS and presented during the convention, and listen to the presentations by the chairs (the research and the presentations are in Italian):
 

Following the convention of October 2025, the focus of the period of study in May 2026 will be the international dimension, with particular attention to its audiences and the various generations involved – Millennials, Gen Z, Alpha. The leading question “Who, today, does the all of an ‘Art Theatre for Everyone’ refer to?” is thus the driver for a wider-ranging discussion that extends beyond national borders to generate a shared examination: is there such a thing as a common international audience? And how does it develop alongside the experience of festivals and the many international organisations in Europe (and beyond)? Who are the individuals or the groups of which they consist? And, within this extensive field, how will future spectators develop?

Read the call for participation in the 2025 convention (the call is in Italian).
Please write to interessepubblico@piccoloteatromilano.it for information.
 

The 2025 convention forms part of initiatives for the 80th anniversary of the founding of AGIS – Associazione Generale Italiana Spettacolo and is organised in collaboration with ABA – Advisory Board for the Arts, AGIS Lombardia, Associazione Culturale Ateatro, Associazione Teatri per Milano, Fondazione Cariplo, Fondazione Paolo Grassi – La voce della cultura, Stratagemmi_prospettive teatrali.


 
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