The Stage Debut Awards, in association with Netflix, today announces its 2026 shortlist, celebrating the performers and creatives making standout professional and West End debuts across UK theatre.
This year’s nominees include Stranger Things star Sadie Sink and actor Noah Jupe, both shortlisted for their West End debuts in Romeo and Juliet; Oscar-nominated Brendan Gleeson for his West End debut in The Weir; and BAFTA and Tony-winning actor Ralph Fiennes, recognised for his directorial debut with As You Like It at Theatre Royal Bath.
The winners will be revealed at the ninth annual The Stage Debut Awards ceremony at 8 Northumberland Avenue, London, on Sunday, 27th September 2026.
Across eight categories, the shortlist recognises breakthrough talent on stage and off, spanning performance, writing, directing, design, composition, lyrics and book writing. Nominees come from productions staged in the West End, at major regional theatres, on tour and at fringe venues, underlining the breadth of new talent emerging across the UK.
Several productions received multiple nominations this year. Romeo and Juliet earns nominations for Noah Jupe in both Best Performer in a Play and Best West End Debut Performer, while The Weir sees both Brendan Gleeson and Kate Phillips shortlisted for their West End debuts. New musical Paddington the Musical receives nominations for Arti Shah and composer-lyricist Tom Fletcher, while Sing Street is recognised across performance and composition categories. Elsewhere, Redcliffe, 1536 and The Fifth Step also feature across this year’s shortlist.
The public-voted Best West End Debut Performer category once again showcases an exceptional mix of established screen talent making their first West End appearances alongside exciting newcomers. Contenders include Oscar-nominated Brendan Gleeson, Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink, Noah Jupe, Liv Hill and Kate Phillips, alongside performers Levi Brown, Cormac McAlinden, Ntombizodwa Ndlovu, Alistair Nwachukwu and Arti Shah.
The Best Performer in a Play category, sponsored by Encore, showcases an exceptional range of breakthrough performances, spanning intimate new writing, Shakespeare, classic revivals and landmark productions. This year’s nominees include BAFTA Rising Star Robert Aramayo for his performance in Guess How Much I Love You? at the Royal Court Theatre, London, Zoë Armer for The Virgins at Soho Theatre, Noah Jupe once more for his acclaimed stage debut in Romeo and Juliet at the Harold Pinter Theatre, Assa Kanouté for Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare’s Globe, Erin Kellyman for Evening All Afternoon at the Donmar Warehouse, Dylan Malyn for To Kill a Mockingbird at Leeds Playhouse and on tour, Ruaridh Mollica for Clarkston at the Trafalgar Theatre, London and Amber van der Brugge for Vincent in Brixton at the Orange Tree Theatre.
The Best Performer in a Musical category, sponsored by Michael Harrison Entertainment, celebrates six standout debut performances that have captivated audiences. The nominees are Jess Douglas-Welsh for Redcliffe at Southwark Playhouse Borough, Jess Folley for Burlesque at the Savoy Theatre, Lydia Louise for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Watermill Theatre, Julianne Pundan for Miss Saigon at the Palace Theatre, Manchester and on tour, James Spence for Thespians at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester and on tour, and Sheridan Townsley for Sing Street at the Lyric Hammersmith. Together, they reflect the breadth of musical theatre talent emerging across the UK, from exciting new writing to large-scale commercial productions.
The creative categories highlight the diversity of artists making their professional theatre debuts. Theatremakers in the running for Best Writer, sponsored by Sonia Friedman Productions, include Georgie Dettmer for Are You Watching?,Danielle Phillips for Children of the Night and Fran Kranz for Mass alongside Chris Ashworth-Bennion, Hannah Doran, Leo Drayton, John Morton and Jack Nicholls.
BAFTA and Tony-winning actor Ralph Fiennes receives a nomination for his directorial debut for As You Like It, competing alongside Douglas Clarke-Wood for THIS IS NOT ABOUT ME. at Summerhall, Edinburgh, Tommaso Giacomin for The Uncontainable Nausea of Alec Baldwin at the New Diorama Theatre, London and Michelle McTernan for HOP – The Hopeful Hare at Swansea Grand Theatre for Best Director.
The Best Designer category, sponsored by Preevue, celebrates three exceptional creative debuts that demonstrate the transformative power of design in theatre – from Lev Govorovski and Ted Walliker’s inventive set and lighting design for RON to Alex Mullins remarkable costume design for Teeth ‘n’ Smiles, and Natalie Roar’s bold costume design for Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
Original scores and bold storytelling take centre stage in this year’s Best Composer, Lyricist or Book Writercategory, sponsored by Theatrical Rights Worldwide. This year’s nominees are John Carney and Gary Clark for Sing Street, Jordan Luke Gage for Redcliffe, Guido García Lueches and Sergio Antonio Maggiolo for Jeezus!, and Ed Zanders for Thespians.
The Best Creative West End Debut category, sponsored by Jamie Wilson Productions, celebrates work from writer Ava Pickett, director Finn den Hertog, McFly star and composer-lyricist Tom Fletcher and the creative team behind The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce and Passenger.
Chair of the judges and The Stage reviews editor Sam Marlowe said:
‘It’s never an easy task, narrowing down the wealth of theatrical talent across the UK into a shortlist – but it is an immense pleasure and a privilege. This year’s nominees have made work of stunning breadth and ingenuity – and, as ever, we recognise and salute those flexing their talents in our smallest spaces, on shoestring budgets, as well as those creating on a much larger scale. From the tiniest fringe venues to the West End stage, they all have one thing in common: a palpable passion for the art form, and limitless vision, both of which continue to make our theatre culture vibrant, challenging, thrilling and beautiful. These are artists taking their first steps with their gaze firmly fixed on the future – and the Debuts celebrates not only their achievements so far, but all those still to come.’
Voting for Best West End Debut Performer opens on Thursday 20th August and can be cast online here. Voting closes on Sunday 13th September.
Winners will be announced at the ninth annual awards ceremony, in association with headline sponsor Netflix, on Sunday 27th September at 8 Northumberland Avenue, London.
The ceremony’s host will be announced soon, alongside the line-up of guest presenters and performers.
THE FULL LIST OF 2026 NOMINEES IS
Best Performer in a Play (sponsored by Encore)
Robert Aramayo for Guess How Much I Love You? at Royal Court Theatre, London
Zoë Armer for The Virgins at Soho Theatre, London
Noah Jupe for Romeo and Juliet at Harold Pinter Theatre, London
Assa Kanouté for Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London
Erin Kellyman for Evening All Afternoon at Donmar Warehouse, London
Dylan Malyn for To Kill a Mockingbird at Leeds Playhouse, and touring
Ruaridh Mollica for Clarkston at Trafalgar Theatre, London
Amber van der Brugge for Vincent in Brixton at Orange Tree Theatre, London
Best Performer in a Musical (sponsored by Michael Harrison Entertainment)
Jess Douglas-Welsh for Redcliffe at Southwark Playhouse Borough, London
Jess Folley for Burlesque at Savoy Theatre, London
Lydia Louise for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Watermill Theatre, Newbury
Julianne Pundan for Miss Saigon at Palace Theatre, Manchester, and touring
James Spence for Thespians at Mercury Theatre, Colchester, and touring
Sheridan Townsley for Sing Street at Lyric Hammersmith, London
Best Writer (sponsored by Sonia Friedman Productions)
Chris Ashworth-Bennion for The Red Rogue of Bala at Theatr Clwyd, Mold
Georgie Dettmer for Are You Watching? at Royal Court Theatre, London
Hannah Doran for The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights at Park Theatre, London
Leo Drayton for Dynolwaith at Sherman Theatre, Cardiff
Fran Kranz for Mass at Donmar Warehouse, London
John Morton for Eclipse at Chichester Festival Theatre
Jack Nicholls for The Shitheads at Royal Court Theatre, London
Danielle Phillips for Children of the Night at Cast, Doncaster
Best Director
Douglas Clarke-Wood for THIS IS NOT ABOUT ME. at Summerhall, Edinburgh
Ralph Fiennes for As You Like It at Bath Theatre Royal
Tommaso Giacomin for The Uncontainable Nausea of Alec Baldwin at New Diorama Theatre, London
Michelle McTernan for HOP – The Hopeful Hare at Swansea Grand Theatre
Best Designer (sponsored by Preevue)
Lev Govorovski and Ted Walliker (set and lighting design) for RON at Riverside Studios, London
Alex Mullins (costume design) for Teeth ‘n’ Smiles at Duke of York’s Theatre, London
Natalie Roar (costume design) for Les Liaisons Dangereuses at National Theatre, London
Best Composer, Lyricist or Book Writer (sponsored by Theatrical Rights Worldwide)
John Carney and Gary Clark (music, lyrics) for Sing Street at Lyric Hammersmith, London
Jordan Luke Gage (book, music, lyrics) for Redcliffe at Southwark Playhouse Borough, London
Guido García Lueches and Sergio Antonio Maggiolo (book, music, lyrics) for Jeezus! at Underbelly Cowgate, Edinburgh and New Diorama Theatre, London
Ed Zanders (music, lyrics) for Thespians at Mercury Theatre, Colchester, and touring
Best Creative West End Debut (sponsored by Jamie Wilson Productions)
Finn den Hertog (director) for The Fifth Step at @sohoplace
Tom Fletcher (composer/lyricist) for Paddington the Musical at Savoy Theatre
Rachel Joyce (book) and Passenger (composer/lyricist) for The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry at Theatre Royal Haymarket
Ava Pickett (writer) for 1536 at Ambassadors Theatre
Best West End Debut Performer
Levi Brown for Cyrano de Bergerac at Noël Coward Theatre
Brendan Gleeson for The Weir at Harold Pinter Theatre
Liv Hill for 1536 at Ambassadors Theatre
Noah Jupe for Romeo and Juliet at Harold Pinter Theatre
Cormac McAlinden for Inter Alia at Wyndham’s Theatre
Ntombizodwa Ndlovu for Marie and Rosetta at @sohoplace
Alistair Nwachukwu for The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind at @sohoplace
Kate Phillips for The Weir at Harold Pinter Theatre
Arti Shah for Paddington the Musical at Savoy Theatre
Sadie Sink for Romeo and Juliet at Harold Pinter Theatre
