Guest performance at the Burgtheater

The clawless little cat Shanya arrives at "Construction Meow," Moscow's women's prison, in search of her owner, who is unjustly imprisoned awaiting trial. Shanya encounters a courageous crow, a wise rat, and a pack of feral cats. Accustomed to the harsh prison environment, the animals help the little cat, but in doing so, they put themselves in danger. Will they succeed in reuniting Shanya and her owner and preventing her from making a false confession?

The author Zhenya Berkovich is herself imprisoned in a women's prison in Moscow. Demoted to the status of regime opponent for her work in the theater, she waits—so far in vain—like the clawless Zhanya and her mistress for just treatment and release. She wrote the book " Pupils" for her teenage daughters in prison. A reading version of the manuscript, which was smuggled across the border, was translated on behalf of the Carinthian Summer Festival and presented publicly for the first time at the 2025 festival.

A touching text that thrives on quirky, lovable characters – and on their indestructible humor, which gives them the strength to survive.

WhenNovember 22, 2025 / 8:00 PM
WoBurgtheater Vienna
Tickets: € 16

Birgit Minichmayr, reading
Angelika Messner, stage version
Kerstin Holm, translation

With an introduction by Nadja Kayali and Angelika Messner.