Stranger Things star Sadie Sink has won best West End debut performer at the 2026 Stage Debut Awards.

Sink, 24, best known for starring in the sci-fi Netflix series as Max Mayfield, picked up the coveted prize for her performance in Romeo And Juliet opposite Noah Jupe at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

The prize was the only category chosen by public vote.

Sink follows in the footsteps of winners including Rachel Zegler, who took the award in 2025 for Evita, and Jodie Comer, who won in 2022 for Prima Facie.

The award ceremony on Sunday was in association with Netflix and hosted by comedian and SNL UK star Hammed Animashaun.

Bafta-award-winning actor Robert Aramayo, known for I Swear, took best performer in a play for his role in Guess How Much I Love You? at London’s Royal Court.

Zoe Armer also took home the award for her performance as Anya in The Virgins at the Soho Theatre.

Two actors took the best performer in a musical award – Julianne Pundan for her performance in Miss Saigon at Manchester’s Palace Theatre and on tour, and James Spence for his performance in Thespians at the Mercury Theatre Colchester, Essex, and on tour.

Sam Marlowe, co-chairman 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.”

1536 playwright Ava Pickett received the best creative West End debut award.

Her historical drama follows the lives of three women living in Tudor England as a clash between  King Henry VIII and his Queen begins to seep into their lives.

Tommaso Giacomin won best director for The Uncontainable Nausea Of Alec Baldwin at the New Diorama Theatre in London and best writer was won by Georgie Dettmer for Are You Watching? at the Royal Court Theatre in London.

The play follows a journalist wired to a machine and a mother whose grief is sold for clicks, exploring who is ultimately in control, who is complicit and where do the lines blur between entertainment and abuse.

Other awards included best designer, won by  Natalie Roar for the costumes in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and Jordan Luke Gage took best composer, lyricist or book writer, for Redcliffe at Southwark Playhouse in London.

The ninth Stage Debut awards celebrated performers, composers, designers, writers, lyricists and directors whose work premiered on stages across the UK.