Winners announced for the 2026 Stage Debut Awards

Best Performer in a Play

•     Robert Aramayo – Guess How Much I Love You? (Royal Court Theatre, London) – WINNER
•     Zoë Armer – The Virgins (Soho Theatre, London) – WINNER
•     Noah Jupe – Romeo and Juliet (Harold Pinter Theatre, London)
•     Assa Kanouté – Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s Globe, London)
•     Erin Kellyman – Evening All Afternoon (Donmar Warehouse, London)
•     Dylan Malyn – To Kill a Mockingbird (Leeds Playhouse and UK tour)
•     Ruaridh Mollica – Clarkston (Trafalgar Theatre, London)
•     Amber van der Brugge – Vincent in Brixton (Orange Tree Theatre, London)

Best Performer in a Musical

•     Jess Douglas-Welsh – Redcliffe (Southwark Playhouse Borough, London)
•     Jess Folley – Burlesque (Savoy Theatre, London)
•     Lydia Louise – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Watermill Theatre, Newbury)
•     Julianne Pundan – Miss Saigon (Palace Theatre, Manchester and UK tour) – WINNER
•     James Spence – Thespians (Mercury Theatre, Colchester and UK tour) – WINNER
•     Sheridan Townsley – Sing Street (Lyric Hammersmith, London)

Best Writer

•     Chris Ashworth-Bennion – The Red Rogue of Bala (Theatr Clwyd, Mold)
•     Georgie Dettmer – Are You Watching? (Royal Court Theatre, London) – WINNER
•     Hannah Doran – The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights (Park Theatre, London)
•     Leo Drayton – Dynolwaith (Sherman Theatre, Cardiff)
•     Fran Kranz – Mass (Donmar Warehouse, London)
•     John Morton – Eclipse (Chichester Festival Theatre)
•     Jack Nicholls – The Shitheads (Royal Court Theatre, London)
•     Danielle Phillips – Children of the Night (Cast, Doncaster)

Best Director

•     Douglas Clarke-Wood – THIS IS NOT ABOUT ME. (Summerhall, Edinburgh)
•     Ralph Fiennes – As You Like It (Theatre Royal Bath)
•     Tommaso Giacomin – The Uncontainable Nausea of Alec Baldwin (New Diorama Theatre, London) – WINNER
•     Michelle McTernan – Hop – The Hopeful Hare (Swansea Grand Theatre)

Best Designer

•     Lev Govorovski and Ted Walliker (set and lighting design) – RON (Riverside Studios, London)
•     Alex Mullins (costume design) – Teeth ‘n’ Smiles (Duke of York’s Theatre, London)
•     Natalie Roar (costume design) – Les Liaisons Dangereuses (National Theatre, London) – WINNER

Best Composer, Lyricist or Book Writer

•     John Carney and Gary Clark (music and lyrics) – Sing Street (Lyric Hammersmith, London)
•     Jordan Luke Gage (book, music and lyrics) – Redcliffe (Southwark Playhouse Borough, London) – WINNER
•     Guido García Lueches and Sergio Antonio Maggiolo (book, music and lyrics) – Jeezus! (Underbelly Cowgate, Edinburgh and New Diorama Theatre, London)
•     Ed Zanders (music and lyrics) – Thespians (Mercury Theatre, Colchester and UK tour)

Best Creative West End Debut

•     Finn den Hertog (director) – The Fifth Step (@sohoplace)
•     Tom Fletcher (composer and lyricist) – Paddington the Musical (Savoy Theatre)
•     Rachel Joyce (book) and Passenger (composer and lyricist) – The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Theatre Royal Haymarket)
•     Ava Pickett (writer) – 1536 (Ambassadors Theatre) – WINNER

Best West End Debut Performer

•     Levi Brown – Cyrano de Bergerac (Noël Coward Theatre)
•     Brendan Gleeson – The Weir (Harold Pinter Theatre)
•     Liv Hill – 1536 (Ambassadors Theatre)
•     Noah Jupe – Romeo and Juliet (Harold Pinter Theatre)
•     Cormac McAlinden – Inter Alia (Wyndham’s Theatre)
•     Ntombizodwa Ndlovu – Marie and Rosetta (@sohoplace)
•     Alistair Nwachukwu – The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (@sohoplace)
•     Kate Phillips – The Weir (Harold Pinter Theatre)
•     Arti Shah – Paddington the Musical (Savoy Theatre)
•     Sadie Sink – Romeo and Juliet (Harold Pinter Theatre) – WINNER

Have you seen any of these award-winning and award-nominated performers and shows? We've also compiled a list of Olivier-nominated shows you can watch this year, and all the celebrities and big-name stars you can catch onstage.