Institute of Art Design + Technology
Dún Laoghaire

Isobel Shackleton 

BA [Hons] Design for Stage + Screen Character MakeUp Design

My name is Isobel Shackleton and I am a graduate of IADT’s Design for Stage and Screen; Character Makeup Design program. In addition to my college degree, I went on an Erasmus to Croatia where I studied costume design and production design for theatre. I am especially skilled in character design, concept design, sculpting, makeup for film, prosthetic design and special effects makeup. I have worked on a multitude of short films and productions, both on a student and professional level over the last four years. I also have a lot of experience in fashion and editorial makeup for photoshoots and music videos.

The Bluebird

The Bluebird was a symbolic fairy-play written by Maurice Maeterlinck, premiering on the 30th September 1908 at Konstantin Stanislavski’s Moscow Art Theatre.
Through my research I have found that Maeterlinck was a student of Emanuel Swedenborg, a theologist and mystic, whos teachings influenced the playwright greatly; especially in this text The Bluebird.

To summarize the text; siblings, Tyltyl and Mytyl, are sent by the fairy on a journey to find the bluebird of happiness for the neighbor’s daughter. They are given a hat with a diamond, which upon turning allows them to see the world as it truly is. The children travel to different worlds, along with a host of unusual companions, searching for the bird and overcoming the obstacles along the way.
It is a symbolic play representing mans journey in search of happiness.

I believe that the feeling the play evokes is that of an ethereal mysterious journey to be enjoyed by children and understood by adults.