Lorem Ipsum is Corey Anderson, Mariah Bergeron, Ian Carlsen, Deirdre Fulton, Claire Guyer, René Johnson, Nick Schroeder, Michael Dix Thomas, and Tess Van Horn. In the fall of 2009, under the direction of Tess Van Horn a group of local actors, artists and puppet-makers formed to produce Alfred Jarry's seminal absurdist play, "Ubu Roi." "Ubu Roi" was followed by Lorca's "Blood Wedding" a year later
incorporating musicians from local bands Selbyville and Hersey State to create original compositions that were incorporated live into each performance. Following the success of "Blood Wedding" the nonsense name Lorem Ipsum (used as dummy text in printing since the 1500's) was chosen. In summer of 2011, the company collaborated with local musician Jimmy Dority to produce "The Threepenny Opera" at the Apohadion Theater. Threepenny was directed by Tess Van Horn and Michael Dix Thomas, and incorporated a cast of 14 ensemble actors and 9 musicians. In spring of 2012, the company produced Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts at the SPACE Gallery. Ghosts will include the works of filmmakers David Meiklejohn and Derek Kimball and incorporate multimedia works and events within the play. In February of 2013, Lorem Ipsum staged Erin Shields's If We Were Birds at the Portland Stage Company Studio Rep Series, featuring live instrumentation by cellist Emily Dix Thomas. In May of 2013, they staged seven performances of Wallace Shawn's Our Late Night inside Portland's Rose Contemporary, an art gallery located near Monument Square. In November of 2013, Lorem Ipsum built a stage inside the Urban Farm Fermentory in East Bayside to produce Gargantua, an original full-length play by company member Ian Carlsen.
