Nominees for The Stage Debut Awards 2026

Jordan Luke Gage’s Redcliffe and Tom Fletcher and Jessica Swale’s Paddington the Musical are the leading musical theatre nominees for The Stage Debut Awards 2026 in association with Netflix.

Gage has been nominated in the Best Composer, Lyricist or Book Writer category for the musical which received its world premiere at Southwark Playhouse Borough earlier this year while Gage’s co-star Jess Douglas-Welsh is in the running for the Best Performer in a Musical Award. Welsh will battle it out against 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.

The higher profile Paddington the Musical’s Savoy Theatre world premiere run has also attracted a brace of nominations with composer and lyricist Fletcher recognised in the Best Creative West End debut category and Arti Shah in the Best West End Debut Performer category.

The winners will be revealed at the ninth annual The Stage Debut Awards’ ceremony at 8 Northumberland Avenue in London on 27 September. The shortlist across the eight categories 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.

Voting for Best West End Debut Performer is now open and will close on 13 September.

THE FULL LIST OF 2026 NOMINEES:

Best Performer in a Play

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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