Break a leg: David Tennant and others on the night before the big day
by Guardian Staff from on (#2MRFM)
From soldier Catherine Smith to cyclist Chris Froome and astronaut Andrew Feustel, how do people under pressure prepare?
The night before the first public performance, you're actually in the theatre, doing technical rehearsals and making sure everything runs smoothly. It's all very busy - it's not a night off. But I think that's best because, for me, it's really an exercise in panic management. You're trying to convince your brain that it's possible to remember a sequence of words and movements in front of 850 people without having a heart attack. I don't think I'd want to be sitting at home trying to be calm, because I'm sure that wouldn't work.
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