Photo: Little Amal, World Traveler

The Handspring Puppet Company and Good Chance Theatre sought to raise awareness of refugee rights while celebrating human migration.

From July to November 2021, an 11-foot puppet named Little Amal traversed eight countries and 65 towns and cities to raise awareness of refugee rights and celebrate human migration. A project of the Handspring Puppet Company and Good Chance Theatre, Little Amal, whose name means hope in Arabic, represented a 9-year-old Syrian refugee girl. Little Amal's travels began on the Syria-Turkey border and ended in Manchester, England. She was received with warmth and vitriol alike. In Rome, she met the Pope. In Greece, protesters pelted her with stones.