Having completed her training at The Drama Studio and The Young Vic, and been inspired to move from traditional theatre towards a more socially engaged form of theatre,
Vanessa directed Green by first-time writer Anthony Goulding, for Dublin Fringe Festival in 1996. It was performed in a converted brewery, creating an abstract representation of a particular thoroughfare in the Phoenix Park, with a hill, a bend, shrubbery, trees, and a colourful, undulating road for actors who performed within a walking audience.
(The Phoenix Park where Green by Anthony Goulding takes place)
The play followed the journey of a young gay man from the local flats, as he undertook distressing measures to hide his sexuality for fear of persecution. It featured a new sound score by Irish band The Idiots, a ‘tape’ that audiences waited to purchase after the show. The production attracted an unprecedented younger and local audience and was nominated for Best New Play at the Irish Times Awards.
(Complexity (2009), by Anthony Goulding, directed by Vanessa Fielding)
Complexity (2009), by the same playwright, was another notable success, set in a complex of flats in the North Inner City - which ultimately inspired the name of The Complex itself. Complexity had been destined for a site-specific performance in O’Devaney Gardens but ended up in the ground units on the west side of Smithfield Square, thanks to its owner Chris Kelly. A brilliant scaffolding design by Sonia Haccius was erected in this large core and shell warehouse, depicting flats on the point of collapse.
(The set of Complexity with scaffolding design by Sonia Haccius.)
There were stairwells, a courtyard, swings, washing lines, first-floor bedrooms, and column-fronted porticos, all through which the audience walked to get close to the action. The hero was a nomadic character who sheltered under the stars, a wise, humorous, and very decent head but with fatal flaws, not least his addictions and his inconstant relationship with the love of his life, now pregnant.
Live DJs played on decks built into the scaffolding and dry ice blew out into Smithfield Square enticing audiences into another reality, using tools associated with clubbing rather than traditional theatre. It packed out and completely upended the viewer's idea of what theatre could look like.
(Anthony Goulding, playwright and writer of Complexity and Green.)
The impulse for this production stemmed from "Dalliance", a new programme created by Vanessa for Dublin AIDS Alliance, for young people who participated in weekly workshops on drug use and sexual health, using the techniques of Augusto Boal.
The completion of a peer education programme led to a full-scale theatre production in Liberty Hall called Bang On, devised and performed by the 22 young people at risk, selected from youth projects in the inner city. This groundbreaking initiative was later extended to include minors in direct provision and focused on the issues of exclusion and stigma, supported by Concern. The elements of this piece created the basis of the research that led to Complexity.
(A further production shot from Complexity)
To see Vanessa’s directorial style in action, be sure to book pre-sale tickets for On the Waterfront, an innovative reworking of the iconic 1950's film of the same name. Tickets are €15 until the 31st of July and are available here. Part 3 of the blog series is out now!