St Mary’s School, Cambridge has been chosen to trial an innovative Explore Shakespeare app launched by the world-famous Cambridge University Press.
Students in Year 9 at the leading all-girls school have been using the Romeo and Juliet: Explore Shakespeare during their English lessons.
This app is one of two Explore Shakespeare apps recently developed by Cambridge University Press. These unique apps combine the latest technology with 500 years of dramatic tradition and more than three decades of research and teaching experience.
In so doing, they transform Shakespeare plays for the 21st century while respecting the core values that make them classics. The apps allow students to read, listen and interact with the plays, and the text has been beautifully reimagined, with illuminating visuals, helpful commentary and a compelling audio performance.
Charlotte Avery, Headmistress at St Mary’s spoke about the girls’ experiences using the app at a launch event held at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts on Tuesday 30 October where she praised the circles feature, the glossary and the ability to listen to the audio performance in the background while making notes in another application.
She said: “The students have been incredibly positive about using the apps. For young people to use technology like this, it is another way of basically making Shakespeare cool. The girls are coming to the end of Act 3 of Romeo and Juliet, and they cannot wait to continue. The apps are innovative and useful, and the students love them.”