The Stage Debut Awards 2025
ANNOUNCE GUEST PRESENTERS AND PERFORMANCES FROM HIT MUSICALS
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, JUST FOR ONE DAY AND HOT MESS - PLUS SPECIAL SURPRISE
Golda Rosheuvel, revered stage actor, star of Netflix’s Bridgerton and spin-off series Queen Charlotte, and Black Panther’s Letitia Wright, both currently performing in Bush Theatre’s Not Your Superwoman, lead the glittering and eclectic line-up of guest presenters at The Stage Debut Awards 2025.
Hosted by the inimitable Julian Clary, the winners will be announced at a special ceremony on September 28, 2025, in front of an audience of some of the most influential names in theatre at 8 Northumberland Avenue, London. Dedicated to celebrating breakthrough theatre talent, these prestigious and unique awards shine a much-needed spotlight on the industry’s rising stars while also underscoring the rich interchange of talent working across stage, screen and music.
The 46 nominations range from performers, directors, writers, composers and lyricists to set, costume and lighting design. Also joining this year’s roster of guest presenters is one half of chart-topping Rizzle Kicks Jordan Stephens, currently making his own stage debut in Entertaining Mr Sloane with Tamzin Outhwaite at London’s Young Vic; one of the country’s best-loved dancers and Kinky Boots star Johannes Radebe, widely known for his regular appearances on BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing; Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields Mischief Comedy’s geniuses behind hit shows including The Play That Goes Wrong; multi-award-winning playwright, screenwriter and director Patrick Marber, whose extraordinary body of work most recently includes the first major London revival of Mel Brooks’ The Producers at the Garrick Theatre and directing Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt at Wyndham’s Theatre and on Broadway, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Director of a Play; and the exceptional three-time Tony Award nominee designer Miriam Buether whose acclaimed work on both sides of the Atlantic includes Stranger Things: The First Shadow and Prima Facie.
The audience will also be treated to performances ranging from one of the most iconic musicals to one of the newest musicals on the scene. Featuring Jesus Christ Superstar’s Parisa Shahmir, Just For One Day’s Craige Els and fresh from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s hit new musical Hot Mess is Tobias Turley, winner of ITV’s Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream. Plus a very special ‘under wraps’ performance is in store.
The Stage Debut Awards would like to thank sponsors Netflix, Encore, Theatrical Rights Worldwide, Michael Harrison Entertainment, Arts Council England, Preevue, Sonia Friedman Productions, Noël Coward Foundation and Learn My Lines Productions.
L to R : Parisa Shahmir, Craige Els, Tobias Turley
THE FULL LIST OF 2025 NOMINEES ANNOUNCED ARE…
Best Performer in a Play (sponsored by Encore):
● Hilson Agbangbe for Wonder Boy at Bristol Old Vic
● Paula Clarke for The Tragedy of Richard III at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast
● Joseph Edwards for The Red Shoes at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
● Lucy Karczewski for Stereophonic at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London
● Eva Morgan for The Glass Menagerie at the Yard Theatre, London
● Christopher Neenan for Blood Wedding at Omnibus Theatre, London
● Daisy Sequerra for Ballet Shoes at the National Theatre, London
● Jasper Talbot for Redlands at Chichester Festival Theatre
Best Performer in a Musical (sponsored by Michael Harrison Entertainment):
● Megan Ellis for Muriel’s Wedding the Musical at Curve, Leicester
● Dora Gee for The Mad Ones at the Other Palace, London
● Eve Shanu-Wilson for The Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty’s Theatre, London
● Leesa Tulley for Why Am I So Single? at the Garrick Theatre, London
Best Writer (sponsored by Sonia Friedman Productions):
● Sarah Bond for Seagulls and Sad, Sad Stories at Laurels, Whitley Bay
● Nathan Englander for What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank at Marylebone Theatre, London
● Danny James King for Miss Myrtle’s Garden at Bush Theatre, London
● Nancy Netherwood for Radiant Boy: A Haunting at Southwark Playhouse, London
● Ava Pickett for 1536 at the Almeida Theatre, London
● Milly Sweeney for Water Colour at Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Byre Theatre, St Andrews
● Saana Sze for Belly of the Beast at Finborough Theatre, London
Best Director (sponsored by Arts Council England):
● Aditya Chopra for Come Fall In Love at Opera House, Manchester
● Nathan Crossan-Smith for The Walrus Has a Right to Adventure at Liverpool Everyman
● Adam Karim for Guards at the Taj at Orange Tree Theatre, London
● Emily Susanne Lloyd for The Mad Ones at the Other Palace, London
● Richard Mylan for Mumfighter at Swansea Grand Theatre
Best Designer (sponsored by Preevue):
● Juliette Demoulin (set), various at Finborough Theatre, London
● Adam Jefferys (lighting) for Communion at Bush Theatre, London
● Hannah Schmidt (set and costume) for The Passenger/Personal Values at Finborough Theatre/Hampstead Theatre, London
● Chloe Wyn (set and costume) for The Walrus Has a Right to Adventure, at Liverpool Everyman Best Composer, Lyricist or Book Writer (sponsored by Theatricals Rights Worldwide):
● Martin Batchelar, James Cooper, Bryn Christopher for Lovestuck, at Theatre Royal Stratford East, London
● Yve Blake for Fangirls at Lyric Hammersmith, London
● Nicola Dempsey and Rosie Dempsey for One Man Musical by Flo & Joan at Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh
Best West End Debut Performer (Sponsored by Noël Coward Foundation):
● Heather Agyepong for Shifters at the Duke of York’s Theatre
● Samuel Brewer for Oedipus at Wyndham’s Theatre
● Georgie Buckland for The Devil Wears Prada at Dominion Theatre
● Tosin Cole for Shifters at the Duke of York’s Theatre
● Emma Flynn for Clueless the Musical at Trafalgar Theatre
● Diego Andres Rodriguez for Evita at London Palladium
● Kat Ronney for Titanique at Criterion Theatre
● Rachel Zegler for Evita at London Palladium
Best Creative West End Debut (sponsored by Learn My Lines Productions):
● Eline Arbo (adapter/director) for The Years at Harold Pinter Theatre
● Tye Blue (writer/director), Marla Mindelle (writer) and Constantine Rousouli (writer) for Titanique at Criterion Theatre
● Darren Clark (music and lyrics) and Jethro Compton (book and lyrics) for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at Ambassadors Theatre
● Justin Craig (musical director and orchestrator) for Stereophonic at the Duke of York’s Theatre
● Benedict Lombe (playwright) for Shifters at the Duke of York's Theatre
● Mark Rosenblatt (playwright) for Giant at the Harold Pinter Theatre
● Amit Sharma (director) for Retrograde at Apollo Theatre
Get your tickets for The Stage Debut Awards here: http://www.thestage.co.uk/debuts