Sweating, shaking, hyperventilation and nausea - stage fright is a condition that adversely affects about a third of all performers. A hangover of our most primitive "fight or flight" instinct when an attack from a woolly mammoth or sabre-toothed tiger needed immediate action, stage fright is now a response to the fear of public humiliation.
John Rorance looks at its causes and cures, and joins an innovative project at the Royal College of Music where students are helped by a group of experts from the fields of music, science and sport.
Producer Paul Evans