Steven Williams’ Ghostly Wind Vortex

Where the Wind Blows

Steven L. Williams (BFA 92) is a professor and head of design and production for the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s theatre department. He is a freelance scenic, lighting and graphic designer with more than 100 productions under his belt. He has designed scenery for “The Thorn,” one of the largest touring church productions in the country, seen live by nearly 750,000 people and televised to over 20 million households.

But even before his career really took off, Steven was incredibly involved with Eastern’s theater department where he acted and worked on almost every production during his four years on campus. He also served as president of ENMU’s theater honor society Alpha Psi Omega, and spent three summers acting, designing and stage managing for “Billy the Kid” at Caprock Amphitheater.

Steven credits former theatre arts instructor Dr. Patrick Rucker and past professor of theatre, Felipe Macias, as challenging him daily, showing him it’s ok to fail, learn and move on, and for sparking his interest in the teaching he loves today.

In his most recent production, Steven was the mastermind behind an enchanting wind sculpture technique used during the immersive telling of Japanese ghost story “Kwaidan.”

By Steven Williams

I witnessed a small wind vortex at an art installation about 10 years ago and I thought to myself that this— full scale—would make an amazing addition to the right play.

Years passed, and while discussing the play “Kwaidan: Japanese Ghosts and Demons,” the team and I spoke about the importance of the implied spirits in the story. It was a perfect fit. I suggested the idea that I’d been keeping in my back pocket for years, and the production team was thrilled with the possibilities.

Ideas flowed out of my mouth like, “wouldn’t it be cool if Snow Woman enters the center of the vortex with artificial snow in her hands? She slowly spins releasing the snow as it is sucked into the spiraling air above.” Or “I would love to have two spirits of fabric battling above our audience. I want this fabric to possess emotions: anger, fear, love and sensuality.”

Then I had to figure how to live up to my promises. I had to master the science behind creating a life-sized wind vortex sculpture.

I tried three different sizes of fans and roughly $500 worth of different fabrics. Going into this process, I figured it wasn’t going to be more than arranging 12 fans in a circle and placing some fabric in the middle. Much to my surprise, copious amounts of math, air volume studies, degrees of pan and tilts of the fans and weight, size and texture of the fabric all played into the success of the finished piece.

Once the sculpture was dialed in we added 50 trial audience members which, given their body heat, also changed the dynamics of the performance space and in turn the behavior of the fabric.

In the end, the sculpture was utilized three separate times during the production. As the audience first arrived into our space, the fans were silent and our fabric laid quietly on the floor as our lead character, played by Tuyet Pham, kneeled in prayer. As Tuyet began to raise her arms, summoning the spirits, the fans projected the fabric into their ritualistic dance overhead.

As this sequence progressed, Tuyet began to grab and throw the spirits around the space. At times, these spirits would physically wrap themselves around her as though in retaliation. Finally, once she had grabbed each of the spirits, the fans were dowsed and the spirits fell to the ground in submission.

Snow Woman’s scene was also a success. Our actress walked to the center of the stage and opened her snow-filled hands, sending it in a violent twist to the ceiling. Lastly, four ensemble members held the four corners of a large piece of fabric, allowing the fans to push it up into a canopy, creating a new and transformable performance space on the stage below.

The finished sculptures were mesmerizing. After around 100 hours of trial and error, I still enjoyed the randomness and quiet chaos that was ultimately created. I then took what I’d learned outside and tried my hand at creating a fire vortex with similar technology. The students loved it.

About Steven L. Williams

Steven was recognized by the Omaha Theatre Arts Guild for Outstanding Scenic Design for A Streetcar Named Desire and Hedda Gabler, and Outstanding Lighting Design for Dark Play, Or Stories For Boys. He has worked with notable theatre companies including the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, Omaha Community Playhouse, The Rose Theatre, Theatre Aspen, Heritage Repertory Theatre, Indiana University, McLeod Summer Playhouse and more.

Steven recently designed a police investigation/ training facility for child abuse and neglect cases in partnership with Project Harmony. He is in his 20th year with the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

He and his wife, Nancy, just celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. They have two sons, Nolan (13) and Gavin (9).