The winners have been announced for the annual The Stage Debut Awards 2026, with Sadie Sink winning the public vote for Best West End Debut Performer for her performance in Romeo and Juliet at the Harold Pinter Theatre.
The winners of this year’s The Stage Debut Awards, in association with Netflix, were revealed last night (27 September) during a ceremony in London, and Sadie Sink won the public vote for Best West End Debut Performer for her performance in Romeo and Juliet at the Harold Pinter Theatre.
The awards celebrate performers and creatives making standout professional and West End debuts across UK theatre. Sink’s win follows previous winners of the Best West End Debut Performer award such as Rachel Zegler, Jodie Comer, Rose Ayling-Ellis and Jack Wolfe.
The ceremony was hosted by actor and comedian Hammed Animashaun, with category awards presented by Sting, Indhu Rubasingham, Matthew Xia, Tyrone Huntley, Marisha Wallace and Michael Rishawn. Attendees were treated to performances from Tyrone Huntley and Avenue Q, a medley from the West End Theatre Choir, and a surprise performance from Sting alongside his The Last Ship co-star Frances McNamee.
Sam Marlowe, The Stage’s reviews editor and co-chair of the judging panel, said: “This year’s winners represent a truly exciting range of fresh talent – artists making their mark, bringing us work that speaks to our present moment and enriches and advances theatre as an art form. Their energy and vision are bound to ensure that the stage remains a vibrant, socially and culturally significant creative space.”
The Stage Debut Awards 2026 winners
This year’s nominations spanned eight categories, recognising performers, composers, designers, writers, lyricists and directors whose breakthrough work premiered on UK stages, with two of the performance prizes shared between nominees.
Here is the full list of winners:
- Best Performer in a Play (sponsored by Encore): Robert Aramayo for Guess How Much I Love You? at the Royal Court Theatre, and Zoë Armer for The Virgins at Soho Theatre
- Best Performer in a Musical (sponsored by Michael Harrison Entertainment): Julianne Pundan for Miss Saigon at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, and touring, and James Spence for Thespians at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester, and touring
- Best Writer (sponsored by Sonia Friedman Productions): Georgie Dettmer for Are You Watching? at the Royal Court Theatre
- Best Director: Tommaso Giacomin for The Uncontainable Nausea of Alec Baldwin at the New Diorama Theatre
- Best Designer (sponsored by Preevue): Natalie Roar for costume design on Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the National Theatre
- Best Composer, Lyricist or Book Writer (sponsored by Theatrical Rights Worldwide): Jordan Luke Gage for book, music and lyrics on Redcliffe at Southwark Playhouse Borough
- Best Creative West End Debut (sponsored by Jamie Wilson Productions): Ava Pickett for writing 1536 at the Ambassadors Theatre
- Best West End Debut Performer: Sadie Sink for Romeo and Juliet at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Jordan Luke Gage’s win marks his debut as a book writer, lyricist and composer, having created what organisers called an “unabashedly sweeping and emotionally wrenching romance” with Redcliffe, and Ava Pickett’s win comes just a year after she took home the Best Writer award at last year’s ceremony.
About The Stage Debut Awards
The 2026 ceremony marked the ninth edition of The Stage Debut Awards since their inception in 2017, ahead of the awards’ 10th anniversary in 2027.
Attendees included Arti Shah, Marisha Wallace and Ralph Fiennes (pictured), while past winners have gone on to major West End, television and film careers, with alumni including Rachel Zegler, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Jodie Comer, Shan Ako, Sam Tutty, Miriam-Teak Lee and composers Dan Gillespie Sells and Michael R Jackson.
Former Debut Award-winning work has also gone on to Olivier and Tony Award success, including Operation Mincemeat, first celebrated at the Debuts in 2019, and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), which won in 2020 under its original title, The Season.
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