IN FOCUS
Vicky Williams
By Andrew King
Vicky Williams had something of an atypical childhood . Born in the Maritimes , she spent the first decade-plus of her life moving between Canada , the United Kingdom , and southern United States with her parents , eventually returning to Nova Scotia for her secondary and post-secondary school years .
“ Little did I know at the time ,” she shares , “ but that life of moving to new places and meeting new people provided me with an extraordinary thirst for change and new experiences that would later extend itself to my career .”
And what a career it ’ s been so far . In her late teens , she enrolled in Dalhousie University ’ s Technical Scenography program with the initial intent of focusing on stage management , but soon discovered that her passions lay in lighting and design . “ Looking back , it ’ s of little surprise that I followed the path I did ,” she admits . “ Before I had any concept of it being a potential career path , my young life was spent designing and building sets and running followspots for school plays and community theatres in the various places I grew up .”
After graduation , she reached for the first rung of the live production industry in Halifax and joined IATSE Local 680 as a loader and stagehand and took odd jobs on the shop floors of some production companies around town .
Her dedication and work ethic must have turned some heads , as she was soon taking on all kinds of unique and exciting opportunities despite her relative youth .
She did a handful of dates as LD for indie rock outfit Wintersleep ; was the dimmer tech for several large-format music festivals in the Maritimes ; worked as a followspot operator and lighting tech for Cirque du Soleil in mainland Europe , the U . K ., and South America ; and designed sets and lighting for various theatre and dance companies throughout Nova Scotia .
Eventually , she landed her current and enviable post as the head of lighting for Halifax ’ s Neptune Theatre , where she ’ s spent the past seven seasons and worked on nearly 50 productions ; however , her thirst for new experiences was never sated and she continues to design for independent and regional theatre companies when the opportunities present themselves .
“ At Neptune , which is Halifax ’ s largest professional theatre company , I ’ ve been fortunate enough to work with some of the best lighting designers in Canada , which has been an incredibly enriching experience ,” she enthuses – and one that allows her to broaden her palette for her own designs .
Balancing life with work – and still finding time to take on some passion projects – is one of the most significant challenges she ’ s faced in her career thus far , though as a female working in a largely male-dominated industry , she adds that she ’ d be remiss not to mention some of the experiences she ’ s faced that her maleidentified colleagues simply wouldn ’ t have to . Still , she ’ s optimistic about the progress she ’ s seen of late and says such instances are “ less and less common .”
When she does find herself with the odd few days off , she enjoys time spent outdoors , hiking , camping and the like . “ I also love to attend music , dance , and theatre performances that I ’ m not involved in , as I want to support my peers in their work ,” she tacks on .
And those peers are paramount to her enjoyment of her career . “ I love the people that I ’ ve had the extreme pleasure of working with ,” she says . “ They ’ d go to the ends of the earth to make a show happen .”
She also loves that , in this industry , there ’ s always something new to learn and new opportunities for growth . “ One can never grow complacent and bored when things keep changing and there are new challenges to rise to ,” she offers .
She particularly enjoys when those challenges pertain to her original set and lighting designs . “ To be involved from the ground up in the creation of a piece of theatre gives me a level of fulfillment unparalleled by anything else that I do .”
Williams has built an impressive resume in a relatively short amount of time , and in addition to her full-time work at Neptune , she plans to continue adding new line items with unique designs for as many productions as she can .
Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of Professional Lighting & Production .
34 • PROFESSIONAL LIGHTING & PRODUCTION