Am Horizont

In the organizer's words:

When Janek is not at school, he spends a lot of time with his grandpa in the swimming pool. He even used to be a professional swimmer at the Olympics, and now he trains his grandson for the upcoming competitions. As Janek's mother is a single parent and works, grandpa is his constant point of reference in life, a wise advisor and humorous problem solver. But suddenly grandpa starts to behave increasingly strangely. Unsurprisingly, he reads the same newspaper twice, invents new words for everyday objects and one day even wants to go to the movies in his bathrobe. The roles begin to shift and Janek realizes that he must increasingly take responsibility and care for his grandpa, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. As a result, he begins to neglect school more and more. But during this time, his new classmate Anna becomes just as important as his grandfather sinks into his own world.

With great empathy, Petra Wüllenweber not only tells of the harsh reality of Alzheimer's disease from the perspective of a grandchild, but also of family cohesion, friendship and the cheerful moments between the generations.

DID YOU KNOW?
There are currently around 1.8 million people living with dementia in Germany. The most common cause is Alzheimer's disease, in which more and more nerve cells in the brain die off. The vast majority of sufferers (almost 70%) live in private households and are cared for by family members, which means that children often witness the progression of the disease very directly.

Duration of performance: approx. 50 minutes