De Vere at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival
Like we said, policing a paradigm shift can be an exhausting job. Just as the Shakespearean establishment was about to heave a big sigh of relief that only 8 percent of its card carrying members were secret heretics, a bad case of the dreaded disease, Deveritis, has been detected at the Colorado Shakespeare festival. Denver Post critic Bob Bows, in a review of All’s Well that Ends Well, identifies the author as one "Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, whose entire life is detailed in the canon."
"Once de Vere’s life is illuminated," continues Bows, "we see that this play is filled with biographical details, beginning with Bertram’s petulant refusal to consummate his forced marriage to Helena, continuing with ’step-sister’ Helena’s budding confusion over her relationship with Bertram, moving forward with Bertram’s profligate behavior throughout, climaxing in the famous ‘bed trick,’ and culminating with the resurrection of Helena. "
While we’re on the subject of de Vere in the theatre world, check out this Oregon Shakespeare Festival bio of leading many James Newcomb, "an avowed Oxfordian," not to mention one of the most talented new Shakespearean actors on the American scene.