THE COMPLEX, SMITHFIELD A new live arts space. The Complex is Dublin’s North West Inner City new live performance venue, fronting onto Smithfield Square, with access outside for performances and festivals.

The Complex is run by a group of artists that have developed the space from a disused warehouse, on the brink of tranfer to NAMA, since February 2009.
Our aim is that this new, innovative, living arts space will be the focal point of the Square, celebrating the cultural diversity of the local people and involving them in the making and presenting of high quality theatre, music and comedy that is inclusive in both a social and a physical way and relevant to all sections of the community.
This is the ethos of the space, with the energy travelling both out and inwards.
The Complex incorporates a large performing venue which retains its modern industrial aesthetic, making it a unique space in Ireland. It is a professional venue with a site-specific feel, but with the technical facilities of a theatre. Seating is entirely movable, allowing for a multiplicity of seating configurations, or none as for promenade performances. The venue is available to visiting theatre companies, artists in all arts disciplines, sustaining the project through the year.
The Complex houses its own theatre company, which stages new plays and re-mounts classics with innovative staging conventions. The company is committed to exploring current issues in society and in the local community, through the use of a process called Forum Theatre, a group workshop experience, practised worldwide to explore and resolve social issues.
These workshops inform and direct productions and are  the source for devised theatre which is made by the acting company in the venue, making The Complex an arts centre that is truly integrated into the local community. Our first production ‘Complexity’ by Anthony Goulding was an example of this.
The Complex also incorporates a gallery/rehearsal space, paint and workroom space and storage space, permitting the delivery of an entire production inhouse. All these facilities are available to hire as a package or seperately and are run in an environmentally conscious way.
SMITHFIELD
During the last ten years, Smithfield has undergone regeneration through a programme of building works and improvements. Now however, the area has regressed, and the majority of retail developments, hotels, and restaurants have closed down and people have begun to move away. Many of the new shopping units did not find tenants even in the boom years and existing businesses are struggling to maintain momentum. The immediate area’s demographic is culturally rich with fourty two percent of adults originating from countries other than Ireland and the traditionally working class residential areas are now peppered with young professionals, enjoying the proximity to the centre of the City. The addition of the LUAS has been of major advantage and the ongoing success of The Lighthouse Cinema next door. Other arts workshop spaces are emerging in the Square and a vibrant network is building between us.
It has long been demonstrated that bringing in artists and new artistic ventures into an area raises its profile. The Complex is already increasing footfall, especially in the evenings and creating new customers for the local businesses, thereby retaining jobs in the area and regenerating Smithfield in a natural sustainable way. This formula could apply to any disadvantaged area of a City with empty buildings and a strong local arts initiative. The Complex has enjoyed the support of Dublin City Council particularly led by the former Lord Mayor Councillor Emer Costello. Local businesses have donated generously to the project, as well as patrons from the entertainment industry who, in November 2009 performed ‘Kickstart The Complex’ a lavish fundraiser in Vicar St.
The Complex team will continue to seek financial support from State agencies and all private donations would be very gratefully received.