About the work
"Klassenputtel" is a participatory production at Vienna's Burgtheater (Vestibül), premiered on 7 February 2026. Directed by Saliha Shagasi – together with Melina Jusczyk (set), Theo Emil Krausz (choreography and music) and a community ensemble – the evening examines the themes of class and social mobility. The title combines the German word for "class" with the fairy tale "Cinderella" (Aschenputtel) and asks: what does it take to belong to "high culture" – and how is a change of class even possible?
Plot
The starting point is a clever twist on the fairy tale: why is Cinderella only loved by the prince once she has achieved social ascent with a ball gown and a glass slipper? "Klassenputtel" begins in an art gallery and observes how figures talk about art – and how taste is formed through socialisation and remains bound to class. From the experiences of the community ensemble emerges a reflection on origin, belonging and the invisible codes that decide who feels they "belong" in which spaces.
Cultural significance
"Klassenputtel" places a theme long underexposed in German-language theatre at its centre: social class and classism. By having a participatory ensemble at the Burgtheater – a high-culture institution par excellence – speak about the mechanisms of cultural distinction, the stage itself becomes the object of analysis. Director Saliha Shagasi stands for a theatre that does not negotiate questions of origin, education and participation in the abstract, but develops them together with the people they concern.