Stage Fright
Cherry Jones [left], earned a Tony nomination for her acting in a stage production of A Moon for the Misbegotten [2002] but was “nearly paralyzed by a profound case of stage fright” according to a Time Out New York article. She said it was from “Living up to the greatest performance I have ever seen” [Colleen Dewhurst's, in 1973] and felt she was “wrestling with this ghost. It’s creative panic.”
Julianna Margulies said about being in the play Ten Unknowns at Lincoln Center in 2001, “We [actors] are such a sorry lot. We’re all so insecure.. Earlier this week, I went home after rehearsal and basically cried on my pillow, saying, What have I gotten myself into? I’m not good enough to do this play.” She came back the next morning and reported Donald Sutherland looked at the rest of the cast and said, “I’ve been vomiting.”
These examples indicate some of the aspects of stage fright, or performance anxiety: it isn’t a matter of your level of skill or talent, and it can be related to other emotional challenges such as impostor feelings.
Actor and coach Wendy Braun [wendybraun.com], in her article “How To Stay Up During Down Times” [Back Stage West Mar30-Ap5 2006] talks about the “roller coaster of emotions” that actors experience, and asks, “Where have you been giving your attention?… Remember that what you focus on expands. Comparing yourself to other actors’ success can put you in a state of panic and lacking.”
Those feelings and ways of thinking can fuel stage fright and other kinds of anxiety about our abilities and ourselves.
In her article Breathing Out Stage Fright, Linda Dessau of Genuine Coaching Services notes that stage fright “comes in many different forms. For some, it’s a nervous energy that disappears as soon as they begin performing, or a familiar sensation that’s always under the surface but feels manageable most of the time. For others, it’s so debilitating that they can’t get through an audition to even be part of a performance.”
In another article, Preparing For Performance, she suggests shifting the way you think about being on stage: “Imagine the performance as a way for you to wrap up your most precious gift - the expression of your creativity - and deliver it from your heart to the heart of each and every person who’s there to receive it… now the performance IS NOT ABOUT YOU. It’s about your gift and doing your best to deliver it… and creating an experience that other people can take away and cherish.”
She has a new ebook to help gain control: Preparing for Performance
Here are more resources :
Performance Anxiety : A Workbook for Actors, Musicians, Dancers and Anyone Else Who Performs in Public - by Eric Maisel, PhD.
Free ebook “Anxiety Tips” available from ConquerAnxiety
related blog post: anxiety and acting
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