Little Amal to make midsummer visit to Stratford upon Avon's RSC

Large crowds gathered outside Coventry Transport Museum to welcome Little Amal in 2021

A giant puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee is to visit Stratford-upon-Avon's Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) as part of World Refugee Week.

Little Amal, whose name means hope in Arabic, is known for her epic 8,000km (4,970 mile) journey from the border of Syria and Turkey to the UK last year.

The 11.5ft (3.5m) puppet has recently visited Ukraine and continues to tour 11 towns and cities in the UK.

Visitors can see her outside the theatre from 15:30 BST on Wednesday.

Little Amal, designed as part of a project aimed at raising awareness of the difficulties faced by child refugees, will be welcomed with a short extract from A Midsummer Night's Dream, organisers said.

Crowds of people greeted the puppet in Coventry city centre last year.

A stilt walker operates her legs and her face and two other puppeteers move each of her arms as part of a team of 10 puppeteers, some from refugee backgrounds.

A stilt walker operates Amal's legs and her face while two other puppeteers move each of her arms as part of a team of 10

Erica Whyman, RSC acting artistic director, said they were delighted to welcome Amal to the theatre.

"Our community, including many displaced families who have recently settled here, will welcome this precious opportunity to walk with Amal," she said.

"Shakespeare wrote passionately about the experience of making your home in a new land, and his words will be one of our gifts to Amal."

Amir Nizar Zuabi is artistic director of The Walk, a travelling festival of art and hope in support of refugees.

He said: "Amal's Walk through England in June will remind us that, if we choose, we can welcome and care for all refugees, regardless of their skin colour, their religion or their background."