The Stage Debut Awards 2020 – nominees announced

Picture: Matthew Murphy

Pop superstar Robbie Williams, US stage and screen star Wendell Pierce and Dear Evan Hansen’s Sam Tutty are among the nominees for The Stage Debut Awards 2020.

Presented in association with Access Entertainment, the prestigious awards will be presented for the first time online during a virtual ceremony on 27 September 2020.

The Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen leads this year’s shortlist with Tutty and co-star Lucy Anderson competing for the Best Performer in a Musical Award. The show’s creators Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Steven Levenson are in the running for the Best Creative Award while Tutty will go up against The Wire’s Pierce (nominated for Death of a Salesman), TV comedy favourite David Mitchell (for The Upstart Crow), former X Factor contestant Shan Ako (for Les Misérables) and Aimee Lou Wood, one of the stars of Netflix’s Sex Education, nominated for her performance in Uncle Vanya.

Unveiling the shortlist, the editor of The Stage, Alistair Smith said: “At what is an exceptionally difficult time for new talent starting out in theatre, we’re delighted to be able to shine a spotlight on a selection of the great emerging performers and creatives who lit up our stages before theatres were closed in March. Despite a shortened judging period, the sheer quality and diversity of our shortlists demonstrate the continued brilliance of our industry’s extraordinary workforce. These will be the people who make sure that theatre not only survives the current crisis, but returns even stronger after it.

“We are really proud that – despite the fact we cannot have a physical ceremony this year – we will be able to continue to celebrate these talented theatre makers, who are positively shaping the future of British theatre, with a special virtual ceremony that will be available to watch online. Please join us to help celebrate and support the very best emerging talent in UK theatre.”

The president of Access Entertainment, Danny Cohen added: “Access Entertainment is delighted to sponsor The Stage Debut Awards for the third year and continue our commitment to nurturing new talent – needed now more than ever at such a challenging time for theatre and the creative industries.”

Celebrating a performer’s first time in London’s West End, the Best West End Debut Performer award is the only category where the winner is determined by an online public vote. Voting closes at midday on 26 August 2020.

THE NOMINATIONS IN FULL:

Best Performer in a Play sponsored by Audible

Saida Ahmed for Little Miss Burden at The Bunker

Katie Erich for Oliver Twist at Leeds Playhouse (in a co-production with Ramps on the Moon)

Brooklyn Melvin for Oliver Twist at Leeds Playhouse (in a co-production with Ramps on the Moon)

Daniel Monks for Teenage Dick at the Donmar Warehouse

Rachel Nwokoro for Little Baby Jesus at the Orange Tree Theatre

Jessica Rhodes for The Sugar Syndrome at the Orange Tree Theatre

Khai Shaw for Little Baby Jesus at the Orange Tree Theatre

Bobby Stallwood for Faith, Hope and Charity at the National Theatre

Best Performer in a Musical

Shan Ako for Les Misérables at the Sondheim Theatre

Lucy Anderson for Dear Evan Hansen at the Noël Coward Theatre

Chase Brown for Mame at the Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester

Oli Higginson for Last Five Years at the Southwark Playhouse

Adriana Ivelisse for West Side Story at Curve, Leicester

Tom Noyes for Preludes at the Southwark Playhouse

Bethany Tennick for Islander at the Southwark Playhouse

Sam Tutty for Dear Evan Hansen at the Noël Coward Theatre

Best Director sponsored by Smith & Williamson

Georgia Green for The Mikvah Project at the Orange Tree Theatre

Martha Kiss Perrone for When It Breaks It Burns at the Battersea Arts Centre

Alex Sutton for Preludes at the Southwark Playhouse

Best Designer sponsored by Robe Lighting

Liam Bunster (set and costume) for The Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare’s Globe

Andrew Exeter (lighting) for High Fidelity at the Turbine Theatre

Rose Revitt (set and costume) for Dr Korczak’s Example at Leeds Playhouse

Best Composer or Lyricist

Jim Barne and Kit Buchan for The Season at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich and Royal & Derngate, Northampton

Jherek Bischoff for The Ocean at the End of the Lane at the National Theatre

Robbie Williams for The Boy in the Dress at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon

Best Writer

Samuel Bailey for Shook at the Southwark Playhouse

Mari Izzard for Hela at The Other Room, Cardiff

Eleanor Tindall for Before I Was A Bear at The Bunker

Temi Wilkey for the High Table at the Bush Theatre  (in a co-production with Birmingham Rep)

Best West End Debut Performer sponsored by Trafalgar Entertainment

Shan Ako for Les Misérables at the Sondheim Theatre

David Mitchell for The Upstart Crow at the Gielgud Theatre

Daniel Monks for Teenage Dick at the Donmar Warehouse

Samantha Pauly for Evita at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Wendell Pierce for Death of a Salesman at the Piccadilly Theatre

Sam Tutty for Dear Evan Hansen at the Noël Coward Theatre

Aimee Lou Wood for Uncle Vanya at the Harold Pinter Theatre

Best Creative West End Debut sponsored by the Noël Coward Foundation

Fabian Aloise (choreographer) for Evita at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Nadia Latif (director) for Fairview at the Young Vic Theatre

Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Steven Levenson (writer) for Dear Evan Hansen at the Noël Coward Theatre

Femi Temowo (composer) for Death of a Salesman at the Piccadilly Theatre and for Three Sisters at the Young Vic Theatre

David West Read (book) for & Juliet at the Shaftesbury Theatre

Angela Thomas