Best Director
Criteria and information for the Best Director category.
Elizabeth Dulau Alexandra Jensen and Mariah Gale in The Bleeding Tree. Image by Lidia Crisafulli
First professional directorial credit in a production staged between 18th July 2025 and 9th July 2026 in the UK and reviewed by The Stage.
Nominees must be over 16 years old or over.
Last Year's Winner
Richard Mylan
Swansea Grand Theatre
A previous nominee as a writer, Mylan impressed again with this directorial debut – his visceral and urgent staging of a muscular one-woman play was laced with anger, pathos and emotion.
Training: Urdang Academy
Previous Winners
- Emily Ling Williams for A Playlist for the Revolution at Bush Theatre, London
- Monique Touko for Malindadzimu at Hampstead Theatre, London
- Martha Kiss Perrone for When It Breaks It Burns at the Battersea
- Atri Banerjee for Hobson’s Choice at the Royal Exchange, Manchester
- Katy Rudd for The Almighty Sometimes at the Royal Exchange, Manchester
- Lekan Lawal for Betrayal at Derby Theatre, Derby
The Stage Debut Awards
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