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DESIGN A COMPLEX BIRTH With a number of false daw
ns, The Complex at Arran Street East finally opens the doors to its public this month. Vanessa Fielding, Artistic Director of this new live arts centre, untangles the story. words Richard Seabrooke photos Derek Doyle – Can you explain a little of the road you’ve travelled so far with The Complex? When and where did it start, why did it move and what lead to this latest move? It started in 1992, when the concept for building a theatre in the round was hatched between a group of Dublinorientated theatre artists, after a base was created in the Ormond Multi-Media Centre, now the Morrison Hotel. Much of Dublin’s northside was derelict, and yet was populated by some large disused warehouses which would be extremely suitable for a new theatre. Both the Abbey and the Gate were situated on the northside and were buoyant, with new-found international attention on established Irish theatre and its transfer abroad. It was not good timing to create a new kind of venue in theatreland, though better timing in terms of the property market. After identifying a site off Bachelor’s Walk that seemed to be vacant, I persuaded the London owners to sell it and an Irish developer to buy it. The plan relied on State funding for fit out. After some months it became clear that the creation of Temple Bar as the Cultural Quarter had swallowed up the Dublin allocation and regrettably the project collapsed. There is some consolation to this disappointment in that it did eventually become the Academy. I continued working in ‘site specific theatre’, transforming sites into temporary spaces for theatre with productions of Green, in the North Dublin Brewing Company, Fontamara in the Old Riding School, Collins Barracks and Piaf in the Law Society, all in Dublin 7 and all immersive. My attention was then diverted to the Fishmarket, owned by Dublin City Council and soon I entered into a partnership with Terry Devey, who had successfully developed the East side of Smithfield. After months of planning, and a stunning proposal including oyster bars and fish restaurants, this project went into a competitive tendering process and was unsuccessful. I took stock and instead of top down, decided to go from the bottom up. In 2008 a project application to the Arts Council was successful and enabled my now extended team to plan a production of a new play Complexity, as part of a project developed with Dublin AIDS Alliance, in a set of vacant units on Smithfield Square. It was designed in a promenade setting in which the audience walked around like on a film set, guided by ushers towards the action, never interacting but viewing the story as it unfolded. With the kind permission of their owner Chris Kelly, we had been given access to the ground floor units, with the intention of staying for the duration of the production. During those four months, the property market crashed. We made a caretaker’s proposal to Chris but decisions were not being made as the units changed ownership and we stayed for over two more years. All the infrastructure had been temporary, including electricity, so a fundraiser was held in Vicar St, led by Tommy Tiernan and Hector Ó hEochagáin, with other notable acts, conceived at Tommy’s wedding! The basics were installed and grants were forthcoming from the Department and the Council. Artists started booking and the programme became busy. It was starting to become real and we were flying, in an alternative space with room to experiment with staging and audiences. I directed Iron and On the Batter. Rent was offered to NAMA but it was nowhere near a commercial level. It was guerrilla tenancy but we were not displacing anyone, so no harm. Then we were evicted. We moved into premises on Benburb Street, converting two old shops and an unfinished legal office into a temporary base. And as we looked over the road, there facing us was a disused homeless shelter in Ellis Court, beside an old hostel for single men owned by the Council. We embarked on a feasibility study with their support and presented a beautiful plan to include 40 artist studios, a large open plan venue, a shop and a roof top restaurant with panoramic views over the City, with a commercial investment of €1 million. The homeless crisis escalated dramatically and the new City Manager called it, diverting its use to emergency accommodation as we were on the precipice of signing lease terms. It was a desperate blow after a year of consistent work but we couldn’t argue with the cause. A week later I had a viewing in Keeling’s fruit factory in Little Green Street. Like all good crises, there are redeeming factors and from this one was our introduction to Brian Montague, a businessman and restaurant owner who had an interest in the rooftop restaurant at Ellis Court. He became our Chair and a Board of prominent directors was assembled. Together and with the help of Dublin City Council, The Complex was reborn in Little Green Street where we remained for four years. And we rocked it. You received the keys for this incredible new venue a couple of years ago now. What happened that it’s only opening now? We had a ten-year lease with Keelings and a penalty was applied for breaking it early, so we had some money to put towards a new place. It is hard to find a very large warehouse at double height with no pillars in the city centre for an arts-affordable rent! One morning a fruit trader came running into the Complex, passing through a rehearsal, to give me the urgent news that the Smyths family were closing their factory around the corner and he had their number for me. It was a giant series of warehouses, in desperate condition but perfect in principle. It had to happen. And board members Brian Montague, Dick Gleeson and Tom Walsh made it happen, together with the generous response of the Smyths family. But only for three years. We weighed up the gamble but what were our choices, as our tenancy was being curtailed and we would shortly be homeless, facing extinction? The gamble was taken, in the awareness that significant money would be required to get through planning regulations and fire, and we would not be able to inhabit it for months whilst due process took its course. For nine months, we had both venues at double rent. Planning permission was granted for change 14