Performance Anxiety: Sydney
Series
Where
When
Monday, 13 Nov 2017, 06:30pm - 07:30pm
Event Status
Past event

Pounding heart, shaking hands – it’s not just ordinary people who soak with sweat at the prospect of a public appearance. The list of famous figures who have suffered from crippling nerves includes Rafael Nadal, Barbra Streisand and even Mahatma Gandhi.
At this conversation, hosted by Kate Jinx, we’ll talk about the phenomenon of performance anxiety and what it reveals about the chasm between our interior and exterior selves. Prefaced by a reading on nerves by actor Gareth Davies, musician Tim Rogers and actor Claudia Karvan will share stories of pre-show and mid-scene tears and tremors; dread and despair; panic … and puke.
Can stage fright be a source of strength? Do all of us – even non-performers – lead double lives? And how do top performers pull themselves together backstage before they break out in cold sweats and involuntary jazz-hands?
Presented by the Wheeler Centre, Sydney Writers’ Festival and Belvoir.
Featuring
Featuring

Claudia Karvan is one of Australia’s most respected and acclaimed film and television actors. She was most recently seen on the ABC series Newton’s Law. She also appeared in the ABC series Jack Irish alongside Guy Pearce, Network Ten’s Puberty Blues, and The Time of Our Lives for the A... Read more

Tim Rogers is one of Australia’s most enduring and respected rock icons. Tim is the frontman singer and lyricist for the legendary Australian rock bands You Am I and The Temperance Union. Tim’s songs pay homage to his love of women, his child and life in all its weird and wonderful in... Read more

Gareth Davies is an actor and playwright based in Sydney. He has written and performed for the Black Lung Theatre (of which he’s a member), Belvoir St Theatre, the Malthouse and many more. Gareth’s theatre credits include The Cherry Orchard (Melbourne Theatre Company); The Government Inspector (... Read more

Kate Jinx is a writer, broadcaster and film curator (mostly). She is the director of programming at Golden Age Cinema in Sydney, and appears regularly on ABC TV’s arts and culture programs The Mix and The Critics. Jinx is currently a PhD candidate at UNSW in cinema and cultural history, and has pr... Read more
Watch, Listen, Read

Read
Reality bites back
30 May 2023

Read
A coming-of-age reading guide
29 May 2023

Listen
Finding the Heart of the Nation: Thomas Mayo in conversation with Catherine Liddle
27 May 2023

Read
Hot Desk Extract : Quantum Entanglement
26 May 2023

Read
Creating harmony between book and place
18 May 2023

Read
Seen and heard
17 May 2023