Bardometer.com is dedicated to reviewing Shakespeare productions on film and stage, in the Pacific Northwest and, occasionally, around the world.

The Bardometer is Vincent M. Setterholm.

Vincent blames his parents for exposing him to good theatre at a young, impressionable age. He "grew up" within striking distance of Minneapolis and was given the opportunity to haunt The Guthrie and the Theater in the Round.

Several adults encouraged this behavior, but particular blame must also be placed on Kurt Schweickhardt, an unfailingly generous teacher and insightful director, who had the audacity to cast Vincent in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Vincent has never quite woken up.

Vincent also points a finger at Ken Smith, who told him about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where one can actually spend a whole weekend doing nothing but watch Shakespeare. This revelation sparked a quest to try to see every play in the Shakespeare canon performed live, and the Internet fanned the flame by revealing that there are other Shakespeare festivals, like the Stratford Festival of Canada and Bard on the Beach. The Royal Shakespeare Company is not free from culpability either, as they lured Vincent to England to see all the History plays performed in ensemble over one long weekend. It's taken two years, and travel to 5 countries (including 7 States in the US and 2 Canadian Provinces), but with this summer's production of Henry VIII in Ashland, Vincent's first tour of the canon will be complete.

The list of guilty parties is rounded off by Michael S. Heiser and Rick Brannan, who demonstrated to Vincent that a good blog can result in getting Free Stuff, and Eli Evans, who enabled Vincent by providing a simple, yet elegant, blog platform.

As you can see, this isn't his fault.

Vincent can be reached at:

Vincent [at] Bardometer [dot] com