Sadie Sink, Tom Fletcher, and Ralph Fiennes amongst those shortlisted for 2026 Stage Debut Awards

Sadie Sink at the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards held at The Royal Festival Hall in London — (Image credit: James McCauley / Getty Images)

London’s theatre scene is unmatched – beyond the starry West End, there are plenty of smaller fringe-esque venues, spaces above pubs, underground gigs, and even open air performances (weather providing). It’s not surprising that its bright lights attract moth-like actors who all prove their Hollywood credentials by providing some spectacular theatre. Now, that’s being recognised in the inaugural Stage Debut Awards.

The awards are in association with Netflix, proving that a). all the arts are interconnected, and b). further proof that the two industries (theatre and film) prop one another up. In case you couldn’t grasp it from the title, the idea is that the awards are solely awarded to those who have made some kind of stage related debut, be it directing, acting, producing or other. (No, your boyfriend who went to the theatre for the first time after being adamant he hated it then proceeded to cry during the whole second half of Hamilton does not qualify for a nomination. Yet). This year, Sadie Sink, Noah Jupe, Brendan Gleeson, Tom Fletcher, Robert Aramayo and Ralph Fiennes among nominees.

Several productions received multiple nominations this year. Romeo and Juliet earned 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 respective West End debuts. New musical Paddington the Musical was nominated for Arti Shah and composer-lyricist Tom Fletcher, while Sing Street was recognised across the performance and composition categories. Redcliffe, 1536 and The Fifth Step also feature across this year's shortlist.

The nominees are:

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

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

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Hermione Blandford is the Content Editor for Shortlist’s social media which means you can usually find her scrolling through Instagram and calling it work, or stopping random people in the street and accosting them with a mini mic. She has previously worked in food and drink PR for brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Gordon's, The Singleton, Lagavulin and Don Julio which means she is a self confessed expert in spicy margaritas and pints, regularly popping into the pub in the name of research.