The Stage Debut Awards are more important than ever.

The Stage Debut Awards have been announced and there are 4 nominations across my campaigns - Lucy Karczewski and Justin Martin for Stereophonic, Eline Arbo for The Years, and Samuel Brewer for Oedipus. Plus a special shout out to Kiln Theatre Artistic Director Amit Sharma for his nomination for Retrograde.

With arts funding being slashed over the past 15 years, dwindling arts provision in schools, and the cost of living crisis, it's harder and harder for people to make it work in our industry.

Council spending on culture in England has fallen by £2.3bn in real terms since 2010/11, according to  2024 research from the Local Government Association (LGA).

And according to The Observer, “Britain’s cultural sector is in a critical condition, with levels of investment and development far lower than in many other European countries”.

So the recognition and press that come alongside schemes like The Stage Debut Awards is more important than ever before.

I’m incredibly lucky to work with artists at all stages of their careers, and can’t wait to see what these incredible people go on to do.

You can read the full list of nominations here.