The Stage Debut Awards 2024: what last year’s winners did next

Anoushka Lucas 

Best writer for Elephant

What did winning a Debut Award mean to you and what are your memories of the night?
It was an absolute joy to win my Debut Award. I attended with my director and friend Jess Edwards, and to be able to celebrate our success together meant the world to me.

What have you been working on since winning, and what’s next for you?
I’m in rehearsals for a new musical at the Young Vic called A Face in the Crowd. Jess and I have also been commissioned to write a new musical together, and we had our first workshop last month. On top of this, I’m writing the music for a second new musical that is in development, and I’m working on my second album.

What advice would you give to the nominees for our 2024 Debut Awards?
Enjoy the night! Be proud of yourself for being nominated and don’t miss the dessert table like I did!

How has winning a Debut Award helped you in your career so far?
Winning my Debut Award gave a legitimacy to my writing that filled me with the confidence to take on new projects. It also gave others the confidence to trust me with them.

Elan Davies

Best performer in a play for Imrie

What did winning a Debut Award mean to you and what are your memories of the night?
Winning was a really inspiring moment and the night is one of my dearest memories. Being in a room full of praise and recognition for creatives of all branches at the beginning of their careers was amazing. It was particularly special for me to win the Debut Awards’ first Welsh-language prize.

What have you been working on since winning, and what’s next for you?
One of the highlights of the year has definitely been co-hosting The Stage Awards 2024 with fellow Debut Award winner Isobel Thom. I’ve also been lucky enough to have been developing my own work with some incredible theatres. I am excited for a hopeful and busy 2025.

‘Being in a room full of praise and recognition for creatives of all branches at the beginning of their careers was amazing’

What advice would you give to the nominees for our 2024 Debut Awards?
Take it all in. You will want to recount every little moment once it’s gone, so be present, enjoy yourself and be proud of the work you’ve put in to reach that moment.

How has winning a Debut Award helped you in your career so far?
It reignited a confidence that can get buried for an emerging artist. It has also allowed me to connect with creatives I never dreamed of interacting with.

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Andrea Scott

Best designer for My Neighbour Totoro 

What did winning a Debut Award mean to you and what are your memories of the night?
I sadly did not get to attend the night as I was working overseas. However, finding out the morning after that I had won was such a joyous moment. I also felt very proud of the team on My Neighbour Totoro as it would have not been possible without them; it never is. As the win was for video design, which is still a category that tends to be largely overlooked, taking home the award felt amazing – and important.

What have you been working on since winning, and what’s next for you?
I have video-designed for the Byre Opera in Scotland as well as for the newly launched Cunard cruise ship, Queen Anne, and I recently started prepping for the Les Misérables world arena tour. After that, I will be jetting off to Japan with Les Misérables again, and early next year we will be bringing My Neighbour Totoro to the West End, which is incredibly exciting.

What advice would you give to the nominees for our 2024 Debut Awards?
Enjoy it. Sometimes we do not get to stop and smell the roses as we are so busy going from one production to another, so take the moment to appreciate the nomination and your win. We are working in an incredibly hard and volatile industry, and getting recognised with a Debut Award is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement.

Isobel Thom

Best performer in a play for I, Joan

What did winning a Debut Award mean to you and what are your memories of the night?
It’s an evening I won’t forget in a hurry! Being in that room with so many friends, creatives and inspiring people was such a joy. I couldn’t believe I got to be part of it. My award was extra icing on an already perfect cake.

What have you been working on since winning, and what’s next for you?
I’ve been working with some fantastic directors, performers and companies, and my love of collaboration has only grown. Conceiving and creating work has also become a bigger part of my career. Learning how to say no has been a new challenge, too – one that, as an actor, can feel counterintuitive, but it’s been one of the big catalysts of growth for me.

‘Awards like this are fantastic, but they aren’t golden tickets – we have to remember our hard work and keep doing it at our own pace’

What advice would you give to the nominees for our 2024 Debut Awards?
You are obviously brilliant, so remember that first and foremost. On the night, just dress up, have fun and soak up the love from every other brilliant person in the room.

How has winning a Debut Award helped you in your career so far?
Meeting exceptional artists I can now call my colleagues and friends has been a highlight. I’m also grateful for the spotlight the Debuts gave me as somebody unknown at the beginning of their career. Awards like this are fantastic, but they aren’t golden tickets – we have to remember our hard work and keep doing it at our own pace.

Jessica Lee 

Best performer in a musical for Miss Saigon

What did winning a Debut Award mean to you and what are your memories of the night?
Winning the award was a significant milestone for the whole cast and creative team involved in Miss Saigon. It was a testament to our ability to collaborate as a team and bring this show back to life with a new perspective. My favourite memory of the night was getting to celebrate the award with our directors, Rob Hastie and Anthony Lau, our designer Ben Stones and my best friend and cast member, Shane O’Riordan.

What advice would you give to the nominees for our 2024 Debut Awards?
Award or no award, a nomination is a reminder of your capabilities. It’s only going to get better from here. Also, enjoy every second of the evening – the food, the networking, the performances – time flies when you’re having fun.

Tingying Dong

Best creative West End debut for The Crucible

What did winning a Debut Award mean to you and what are your memories of the night?
Getting nominated was already a huge validation and I felt incredibly honoured to see my name among those peers – let alone to actually receive the award. To be honest, it still feels surreal. It was a fantastic evening, celebrating with my partner, with many friends, with fellow nominees and endless food and drinks. Winning was like getting a pat on the back from the industry. As a migrant artist, it was a particularly special and wholesome feeling, a sort of recognition on a different level that said: ‘We see you, and we hear your work.’

What have you been working on since winning, and what’s next for you?
I was in rehearsal for Lyonesse by Penelope Skinner at the time of the awards – the show opened in the West End soon after. Then I ended the year with Tom Stoppard’s Rock ’n’ Roll at Hampstead Theatre. This year I did two shows in a row at the Lyttelton at the National – Dear Octopus and London Tide (working with Chris Shutt again). Dan Samson and I moved Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! to the West End, and I sound-designed a new adaptation of The Secret Garden at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. At the moment, I’m putting Selina Thompson’s Twine into London’s Yard Theatre. Later this year, I’ll be working at Sheffield Theatres, the Barbican and reuniting with The Crucible’s director Lyndsey Turner for Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes at the Young Vic.

‘Directors and producers who I hadn’t worked with have showed interest in collaborating with
me because of the award’

What advice would you give to the nominees for our 2024 Debut Awards?
See it as a fancy dinner party and enjoy the night. Winning an award is a lovely surprise along the way while doing something we love, so don’t let it dictate your choices for the evening. However, do try to prepare something to say in case you win – no one seemed to have done so last year, including me, and we all quite obviously panicked at the podium.

How has winning a Debut Award helped you in your career so far?
It definitely broadcast my existence to the wider industry. Directors and producers who I hadn’t worked with showed interest in collaborating with me because of the award. And I guess it also reminded people who I had worked with that I was still here. It boosted my career trajectory and I’m at a very fortunate place where I actually get to choose the projects I’m most interested in. So thank you to The Stage, it’s so surreal that I got here