Insights welcomes Jennifer Leigh Gibson as a regular staff writer. Jennifer is a senior English major, and features editor for The Retriever Weekly.

Some people have an unadorned simplicity to them, a natural wholesomeness that appeals to all. These are the ones who simply walk into a room and strangers flock to them. Senior theatre major Allison Houseworth (pictured, left) is one of these people. She has that intangible, indescribable something that both draws others to her and, through these interactions, gives her a fount of knowledge that helps bring to life the characters that she portrays.

Houseworth was born in Chevy Chase, Md. and has been acting on a continuous basis since the age of twelve. Coming to UMBC on a Linehan Artist Scholarship, she says that she only had plans on staying here for a year, but fell in love with the department. She praises the program saying, "[The faculty] are extremely talented -- their intelligence blows me away. I'm very lucky."

Since her first days as a freshman in the theatre department, Houseworth has accomplished a great deal. Not only has she had major roles in past productions and ran shows, this talented actress has also traveled to Berlin as part of the International Beckett Festival. Her credits aren't limited to the stage alone, Houseworth has had roles in two films: Minority Report with Tom Cruise and the new Chris Rock film Head of State.

While willing to do work in film, her true love is the stage. Houseworth has portrayed a vast array of characters at UMBC -- from the lesbian Alice in Blue Window to the troubled Lady MacBeth in the 2001 production of MacBeth. Citing Kevin Spacey and Ed Norton as actors she respects, Houseworth states, "I admire the people who are diverse in their acting."

With graduation's imminent approach, Houseworth discusses her hopes for the future. "Ideally, I would like to act on stage and eventually teach," she says, adding, "I plan on going to grad school and getting an internship in casting or managing a theatre." This wouldn't be the first time Houseworth would have done these two jobs. She worked as assistant stage manager and ran lights for the Maryland Stage Company's 2000 production of Play.

Each UMBC theatre production requires a great deal of research and a large time commitment. Houseworth says with MacBeth, the actual rehearsals did not start for weeks, instead the cast studied a variety of subjects ranging from witchcraft to Scottish history. This was done in order to add to the working knowledge of those involved. "It's supposed to look like it's not a lot of work, but it is," Houseworth explains.

Regardless of the amount of work, the lack of sleep, the stress and all of the other related factors that comes with life in the theatre, the only feelings Houseworth has are enthusiasm and excitement. "I just love what I do, that's why I keep doing it."

- Jennifer Leigh Gibson

For upcoming theatre events visit www.umbc.edu/arts.