La Compagnia del Teatro Quirino e la nascita del Piccolo. Il carteggio inedito del ’46 Grassi-Costa

The article reveals an unknown scenario behind the foundation by Paolo Grassi of the Piccolo Teatro in Milan. The correspondence between Grassi and Orazio Costa in 1946, through the unpublished material of the 'Costa' Archive, redesignes the crucial months that preceded the foundation of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano. In that year, Silvio d’Amico conceived the Compagnia del Teatro Quirino in Rome and called Costa as a director. In the spring of ’46, Costa proposed to Grassi the role of organizer of the Company, in full sharing of managerial and artistic responsibilities. Grassi decided to abandon the career of a stage director and firmly accepted the proposal, outlining an operational plan rich of managerial intuitions regarding the “construction” of a repertoire and of a public, focusing on the project’s international dimension and economic sustainability. The same guidelines proclaimed in those days from the pages of “Avanti!”. However, the enthusiasm of Grassi was not matched by the confidence of d’Amico, who made the collaboration impossible. The Compagnia del Teatro Quirino lived for only one season. At the end of the year, the plans di Grassi were conveyed to the new project of the Piccolo di Teatro in Milan.