Radio play by Gesche Piening, with music by Mathis Nitschke
First broadcast on March 30, 2022 at 10:03 p.m. on DLF Kultur
Broadcast on June 10, 2022 at 9:03 p.m. on BR on Bayern 2
Or listen to it here (in German): https://www.hoerspielundfeature.de/hoerspiel-ueber-kinder-tod-und-trauer-tot-was-soll-das-sein-100.html
Helping grieving children is hard. It also leads adults to emotional limits, makes helpless, sometimes speechless. The radio play tells the story of people who were confronted with death at a very early age and quickly learned to remain silent.
Children and young people approach the subject of mourning, death and dying in a much more unbiased way than adults. However, their specific questions, idiosyncratic fantasies and coping strategies often silence those around them. Children quickly learn that it is better not to ask questions about death if they do not want to provoke unpleasant situations. Dealing with people who are grieving is not something we take for granted. Almost reflexively, we push grief into the private sphere, where those affected withdraw until it “doesn’t hurt so much anymore”. This experience shapes the mourners for a lifetime. Who will be with us one day? And how can we stand by people who are grieving?
By Gesche Piening
Directed by the author
with David Bennent, Patrick Güldenberg, Steffi Kühnert, Martin Rentzsch, Linn Reusse, Katharina Marie Schubert and Jörg Schüttauf
Music: Mathis Nitschke
Sound and technology: Thomas Monnerjahn and Eugenie Kleesattel
Assistant director: Susann Schütz
Dramaturgy: Barbara Gerland
Production: Deutschlandfunk Kultur with Bayerischer Rundfunk 2022
