In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world as we knew it. New guidelines for public life were put in place, impacting every corner of our society. Doors closed, programs were canceled, gatherings were banned, and the arts sector was all but decimated. We found ourselves pondering: how can the arts survive if we are not allowed to perform, and our audience is not permitted to watch?Yet, seemingly overnight, a virtual world rapidly developed and became the new normal. Companies, artists, and everyone really, dove headfirst into cyberspace and started innovating. Suddenly, our daily activities became available online, including work, [...]

Rumor has it that Edgar Allan Poe modeled the House of Usher on a dwelling in Boston with a gruesome secret. The Tremont Street home of eighteenth-century bookseller Hezekiah Usher (located just a few blocks from the house where Poe was born, in 1809) was demolished in 1830, and two bodies were said to have been discovered in the basement, locked in a ghastly embrace. But that is just a rumor. The precise origins of Poe’s celebrated story remain elusive – like so many elements of the work itself. “The Fall of the House of Usher” is shrouded in uncertainty. [...]