Manu Halligan, born in Rostock, completed her apprenticeship as a hairdresser and is a certified makeup artist. Having been familiar with Robert Wilson’s work for years, she began working as a makeup artist on productions such as Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Peter Pan (Berliner Ensemble, 2009 and 2013), as well as a restaging of Einstein on the Beach (Asia Culture Centre, Kwangju, 2015). Her first collaboration as makeup designer for Wilson’s productions was Pushkin's Fairy Tales (Theatre of Nations, Moscow, 2015). Since then, she has created the hair and makeup looks for many of his productions, including Edda (Det Norske Teatret, Oslo, 2017), The Sandman (Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, 2017), Turandot (Teatro Real, Madrid, 2018), Le Livre de la Jungle (in French and German; Grand Théatre de la Ville, Luxemburg, and Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, 2019), Messiah (Haus für Mozart, Salzburg, 2020), Dorian (Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, 2022), Three Tall Women (Municipal Theatre of Piraeus, Athens, 2023), Moby Dick (Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, 2024), and restagings of Heiner Müller's Hamletmachine (Teatro San Nicolò, Spoleto, 2017, and Theatre Converge, Huichang, 2025). 

 She was also the makeup artist for productions in which Mr Wilson performed himself. In addition, she handled makeup and wig for Peter Stein’s staging of Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape (2013), starring Klaus Maria Brandauer. In 2025, she was hired by the Greek National Opera to work on hair, makeup, and wigs for the opera Turandot, which opened the Athens Epidaurus Festival, directed by Andrei Șerban. Beyond theatre, her portfolio includes works on award ceremonies, advertising billboards and campaigns in collaboration with photographers or video productions for artists such as Rammstein. She has also contributed to major Hollywood productions, including The Hunger Games, Point Break, and A Cure for Wellness, acclaimed television series like The Queen’s Gambit, and period movies such as Munich –The Edge of War and The Empress. Most recently, she did hair and makeup for the cinema production King’s Land.