Britain's cultural heritage will be given the Big Brother treatment under plans being scrutinised in the Lords today.

Royal Shakespeare Company actors could be spied upon in rehearsals, and members of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra overheard as they tune up, as part of a multimillion-pound venture which would see the cream of the nation's arts placed on the web.

The scheme, brainchild of the culture secretary, Chris Smith, will do more than just allow the nation to be a fly on the wall as Britain's finest performers wrestle with their craft, however. "The key is interaction," said a ministerial aide. "You could have a master class on a particular speech from a theatre director, or a lesson in the violin from an orchestral member."

Using a conference call technique, schools could wrestle with their interpretation of a Shakespeare play while benefitting from RSC actors or directors. Queries about the interpretation of GCSE and A-level texts could be emailed to thespians.

The proposal for Culture Online, as it is provisionally called, is contained in the culture and recreation bill, due to get its second reading in the Lords today, and the government is so keen on the plan it has already been granted £5m by the Treasury.

Around £150m will be channelled into it over the next two years, and ministers envisage a pilot service could be up and running by late summer.

Describing Culture Online as the "online equivalent of Channel 4", Mr Smith hopes the scheme - free to those downloading it - will bring culture to the masses.

But his advisers admitted there were still issues to resolve, concerning copyright and royalties. Last night, a spokesman for the RSC, currently in negotiations with Equity, the actors' union, on the issue, said: "Obviously, people would have to be paid. But it's a new area, so we would negotiate a new contract."

However, an Equity spokesman was aghast at the thought of rehearsals being given the Big Brother treatment. "I cannot imagine any actor or theatre director agreeing to have their rehearsals screened."

And the shadow culture secretary, Peter Ainsworth, branded the scheme an "enormous waste of money".