Inspired by the spectacular Sultan’s Elephant performance in 2006, which brought millions of people into the streets of London, the work of the famous Handspring Puppet Company (creators of the Warhorse puppets), and their own successful play, The Jungle, The Good Chance Theatre has conceived of ‘The Walk.’
In their words, The Walk is a “travelling festival of art and hope in support of refugees”.
At its heart is ‘Little Amal’, a 3.5 metre tall puppet of a little girl, representing displaced children everywhere. She is animated by a relay team of 9 puppeteers, 3 at a time, one of whom is Girum Bikele: a young refugee from Eritrea, who met the Theatre of Hope in Calais and went on to perform in The Jungle.
Little Amal will travel 8,000 kilometres. Having left Gaziantep, Turkey in July, she will end her journey in Manchester in November. As she makes her way through Turkey, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France and the UK, she is being met by Acts of Welcome from a wide variety of community groups inspired by her message.
Little Amal is the giant puppet at the heart of The Walk, travelling 8,000km in support of refugees. The 3.5 metre-tall living artwork of a young Syrian refugee child is walking across Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the UK to focus attention on the urgent needs of young refugees.
On Monday 25th October, 2:00 – 3:00pm, Little Amal will be making a visit to Westminster Cathedral and we are invited to join together for a prayer service for refugees. The service is open to all and a group from JRS UK will be attending. We would be delighted if you would join us to prayer for refugees and take part in this unique experience.
JRS UK is looking forward to welcoming Little Amal to the UK!
Details of where to see Little Amal, as well as more information about the project can be found at: www.walkwithamal.org
To RSVP to come along with JRS to Westminster Cathedral or to ask any questions, contact Nick: nick.hanrahan@jrs.net
