The Teatro della Cooperativa Association was founded, thanks to the support of the Abitare Cooperative (owner of the hall which has one hundred and eighty-nine seats), at the beginning of 2002 by the playwright, director and actor Renato Sarti – who had previously collaborated with the Piccolo Teatro with Giorgio Strehler and the Teatro dell’Elfo in Milan – winner of the I.D.I. Award, the Vallecorsi Award, the Riccione Award for theatre, the Gassman Award, the Enriquez Award, and the Ambrogino d’Oro.
Active in Niguarda since 2001, the Teatro della Cooperativa has started a project for the cultural redevelopment of the suburbs through the development of a theater production and promotion center which, having taken root in the social fabric of Niguarda – the north-eastern outskirts of Milan – offers a point of reference for the city and the province. Convinced that the theater can and must have a social function, as a space in which a community can still recognize itself and share a unique and living experience, the activities of the Teatro della Cooperativa were characterized right from the start by attention to themes such as recovery of historical memory and the valorization of the multiculturalism that distinguishes the Milanese suburbs today. From this perspective, an activity in the theater that has seen the alternation of well-known personalities and young research companies has been accompanied since the birth of the theater by an intense training activity through laboratories and workshops for children, adolescents and adults. In fact, the project’s main objective is the development of a center for theatrical and cultural production and promotion: a dynamic and open space where culture and ideas can circulate freely, a place of aggregation and discussion capable of establishing a profound relationship with citizens of the area and more generally with the city.
Over the years, the Theatre has also collaborated with important Milanese theatres such as Piccolo Teatro, Teatro dell’Elfo, Teatro Litta, Teatro Dal Verme, Teatro Verdi and with cultural institutions such as Eclettica&Media, the Milanese universities Statale, Cattolica and Bicocca, Fondazione Corriere della Sera, Anpi, Aned, Arci, Cgil, Historical Institutes of the Resistance, Bollate Prison, Ass. Olinda – ex O.P. Paolo Pini, Radio Popolare, Fondazione di Vittorio, C.A. Torchiera Senza Acqua, C.S. Leoncavalllo, C.S.A Vittoria.
Teatro della Cooperativa has also been a promoter or partner of numerous initiatives, including:
La bicicletta di Lia, a cycle ride with stops at the symbolic places of the city’s Resistance proposed every April since 2004.
Per non dimenticare – December 2004 and December 2005 – evenings dedicated to the Piazza Fontana massacre with the participation of, among others, Dario Fo, Franca Rame, Enzo and Paolo Jannacci, Sergio Zavoli.
Spirit of Fès, a music, theatre and meeting festival promoted by Eclettica&Media (in the city of Fes, Morocco)
In recent years the Theatre has hosted numerous contemporary drama companies and important figures from the world of theatre, including: Franca Valeri, Paolo Rossi, Don Gallo, Emanuele Luzzati, Moni Ovadia, Lella Costa, Daniele Luttazzi, David Riondino, Max Pisu, Scimone and Sframeli, Ale and Franz, Antonio Cornacchione, Mago Forest, Lucia Vasini, Erri De Luca, Carlo Lucarelli, Flavio Oreglio, Raul Cremona, Marco Rovelli (Lunatica Festival 2009) Giulia Lazzarini (participation in the Mittelfest 2009 with the stage reading Muri – before and after Basaglia -, a finalist text for the Riccione Prize which benefits from the prestigious participation of Giulia Lazzarini, written by Renato Sarti on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the entry into force of Law 180)
These initiatives are enhanced thanks to the support of various entities and entities operating in the area, in the Lombardy and national territory. This is still demonstrated today by the growing interest, trust and support shown by public bodies (High Patronage of the President of the Republic, Municipality of Milan, Province of Milan, Lombardy Region, Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities, Niguarda Hospital , ANPI, ANED) and private individuals (Società Edificatrice di Niguarda, Coop Lombardia, Credito Artigiano, UPIM, Lottomatica, Fondazione Cariplo).
In 2006, the Theatre was awarded the Hystrio-Provincia di Milano prize as a reality operating in the territory, as an example and testimony of a careful and successful work of cultural development in the Niguarda district.
Since the 2008/2009 Season, the Teatro della Cooperativa has been among the Theatres Affiliated with the Municipality of Milan.
https://www.teatrodellacooperativa.it/
