I, Cinna (the poet), a new interactive play written by Tim Crouch and starring Jude Owusu, has now become available online for viewing at home or in schools.
Using the unlucky character of Cinna The Poet from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar—the innocent poet is murdered when mistaken for a conspirator of the same name—the young audience is engaged by his story and invited to write a poem.
Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival (a celebration of Shakespeare forming part of London 2012 events), the work was shared by more than 8,000 young people through simultaneous broadcast into over 500 classrooms earlier this year. The live webcast allowed 11- to 16–year-olds across the country to interact in real-time and later submit their poems to a digital archive.
As well as online viewers, audiences of the current touring production of Julius Caesar can submit their work to the digital record. Materials are also available to support further discussion or study of the text.
I, Cinna (the poet) can be seen at http://thespace.org/items/e0000sxs?t=q6zm. Further materials are available from the RSC website www.rsc.org.uk.