We are so proud of all our clients who have been featured on the Stage 100 2026 List. A huge congratulations to them all, and we’re excited to see what’s in store for them in 2026!
Their achievements are stated below, as reported on The Stage website.
Christopher Haydon and Robert O’Dowd: Rose Theatre Kingston
South-west London’s largest producing theatre offered up a steady stream of interesting takes on classics, from Ava Pickett’s Emma to Chris Bush’s Cinderella and a new staging of Never Let Me Go. It’s also a significant endorsement that Michael Sheen has opted to co-produce his very first Welsh National Theatre production with the Rose, which will stage Our Town next month. Another impressive co-production, Marie and Rosetta starring Beverley Knight, is bound for the West End this year.
Chinonyerem Odimba: tiata fahodzi
The British African heritage theatre company toured a triple bill of new plays by British African writers to considerable acclaim, and is set to champion more new talent thanks to the Mo Siewcharran Fund empowering it to offer paid internships to ethnically diverse creatives. Odimba, who ably steered tiata fahodzi through another successful year of performance and advocacy, began the development of a new opera project based on Orpheus and Eurydice in partnership with companies including Opera Europa in a bid to expand “what opera can be” and who it can be for
Matthew Xia, Helen Jeffreys, Jo Royce: Actors Touring Company
Xia and Helen Jeffreys – who replaced Jo Royce in August – guided Actors Touring Company through another mega year of touring work. Satirical hit Tambo & Bones enjoyed a tour of the UK, and Xia directed the UK premiere of a stage adaptation of Jamaican film The Harder They Come, soundtracked by the late Jimmy Cliff and often credited with introducing the world to reggae – at Theatre Royal Stratford East. This year, Xia will become the first director to bring another play about Jamaica, Small Island, outside London.
Lynette Linton Director
Linton kissed goodbye to her role as artistic director of London’s Bush Theatre in March 2025, after six years at the helm. But she continued to feature prominently in the theatre scene, taking the helm of Lynn Nottage’s esteemed play Intimate Apparel at the West End’s Donmar Warehouse, earning a five-star review from the Guardian, which praised her “great gift” of being able to “see people from every angle”. She also directed Michael Abbensetts’ comedy Alterations at the National Theatre, starring Arinzé Kene and Cherrelle Skeete, which was the play’s first revival in 40 years. This year, Linton will direct new musical The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Matthew Warchus and Laura Stevenson: Old Vic
Warchus has ended his tenure at the Old Vic on quite a high. His swansong season transformed its 200-year-old auditorium into an in-the-round space, and casting coup Susan Sarandon was every bit as good as was hoped in Mary Page Marlowe. A double bill of Conor McPherson plays (The Brightening Air and Girl from the North Country) and an Oedipus starring Rami Malek and co-directed with Hofesh Shechter were all striking. The year rounded off with the opening of its impressive Backstage annex, a six-storey extension that will host community and engagement work.
Mark Rosenblatt Playwright
Rosenblatt’s Giant, which was produced by the Royal Court and transferred to the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End last spring, earned the playwright multiple awards in 2025, scooping two Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards, for most promising playwright and best new play. It also took three prizes at the Olivier Awards, including best new play. The writer’s debut play, an exploration of the author Roald Dahl and the antisemitic comments he made in a review in 1983, also earned Rosenblatt the Best Creative West End Debut prize at The Stage Debut Awards. Giant will run on Broadway this year.
