‘THE WALK’ EVENTS IN LONDON
When: Friday, 10am-noon BST Where: Deptford Broadway, Lewisham
Little Amal’s first stop in London will be a magical, fun-filled morning in Deptford, Lewisham’s first major event as it prepares to be part of the Mayor of London’s Borough of Culture in 2022 and as the country’s first Borough of Sanctuary.
It will be a family-friendly interactive event during which Amal will explore Deptford High Street with local children who will teach her all about life in Lewisham and learn about her journey.
When: Saturday, 10am BST Where: St Paul’s Cathedral The Great West Door, the ceremonial entrance to St Paul’s Cathedral, will open wide allowing children from across London, members of the St Paul’s community and other faith leaders to welcome Amal to the space.
The event will be filled with spoken words and music directed by filmmaker Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!), before Little Amal is guided through the cathedral gardens.
When: Saturday, 1pm BST Where: Shakespeare’s Globe As she continues her journey across London, Little Amal will visit Shakespeare’s Globe. At the Groundling Gates of the open-air theatre on Bankside, the public, audience members and company of Twelfth Night will have the chance to meet
Little Amal before the matinee performance.
When: Saturday, 4pm BST Where: The Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre
Little Amal will arrive at the Southbank Centre to take part in Welcome Wishes, part of the London Literature Festival. Through craft, singing and storytelling, audiences will be transported to the world of Swallow’s Kiss, a new novel by writer Sita Brahmachari and illustrator Jane Ray.
The uplifting tale helps young readers to understand the lives of refugee children and follows the story of Blessing, who discovers a bag of paper birds bearing wishes written by refugee children from around the world and flies to meet the people who made them.
When: Saturday, 5.45pm BST Where: The National Theatre The National Theatre will welcome Little Amal with a choir singing from its terraces. It will be made up of the theatre’s Public Acts initiative community members, staff and singers from other choirs in the local area. Singer-songwriter Juliana Yazbeck will perform a welcoming solo that will lead into the choir performing I Am My Own Way Home from Pericles.
The Shakespeare play was first performed in the Olivier Theatre in 2018, launching the National Theatre’s Public Acts initiative to create extraordinary acts of theatre and community.
When: Saturday, 7pm BST Where: Somerset House After crossing Waterloo Bridge, Amal will arrive at the spectacular Somerset House courtyard and will be welcomed by a 20-minute dance specially choreographed by Ruby Portus. This will include an intergenerational cast of dancers from the National Youth Dance Company and the Company of Elders, which are run by Sadler’s Wells theatre.
When: Saturday, 11.15pm BST Where: Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House will welcome Little Amal, giving her A Bed for the Night in the Paul Hamlyn Hall.
The evening’s programme will include performances by Phosphoros Theatre Company, dancers from The Royal Ballet, singers from The Royal Opera and Citizens of the World Choir, and Syrian oud player Rihab Azar, who lives in London.