The Italian director Giorgio Strehler (1921–97) staged more plays by Shakespeare than by any other playwright, but only a few of his most recent and successful Shakespearean stagings have received international critical attention. By focusing on one of Strehler's early productions, The Tempest of 1948, this article has a double purpose: to examine the cultural context of a production that was quite anomalous for the Piccolo Teatro of Milan, then in its second season, and to underline how, from the beginning of his career, Strehler developed a crucial attention for a mutable theatre space.