The Blue Bird (L’Oiseau Bleu)

Story

Tyltyl and Mytyl , the children of a poor woodcutter, are sent out into the world to find the Blue Bird of Happiness.

Why we chose it

The Blue Bird was one of the very earliest plays for children.

Where it came from

An allegorical fantasy written as a play for children.

Where it went next

It was first performed on Broadway in 1910. In 1910 and again in 1918 the story was adapted for a silent film and there was also a 1940 film starring Shirley Temple.

In Noel Streatfield’s Ballet Shoes Pauline and Petrova Fossil play Tytyl and Mytyl in a production of The Blue Bird.

Associated stories

Maeterlinck was a Belgian writer who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1911 for his theatre works. He wrote poems and plays, publishing both his first verse collections and his first play in 1889. He was part of the symbolist literary and artistic movement.