The theatre industry B2B title The Stage for the last 25 years has released a list of the 100 most influential people working in theatre. To celebrate 25 years of The Stage 100, and note the hardships faced by the industry, the title looks towards the 25 directors, producers, choreographers, writers, performers and designers who are going to make their mark, and help the theatre sector recover from a very challenging few years.

The 25 featured are all from different points in their career. To make the list truly fresh, the only application criteria was that entrants must not have featured in The Stage 100 list prior. With talent from across theatre, The Stage 25 shows how the magazine supports its sector, shining a positive light on the bright future of theatre, looking beyond the tough times caused by coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions.

Alistair Smith, editor of The Stage said: “The Stage 100 is 25 years old and we wanted to mark this milestone, but it felt like the wrong moment to be looking backwards. Instead, we thought now was the time to celebrate the future of theatre. So, this year we are delighted to present The Stage 25 – 25 superb theatre makers we believe will go on to great things over the next quarter-century and become stalwarts of future editions of The Stage 100.

“The Stage 25 includes performers, producers, directors, designers, writers, theatre makers of all different kinds who share one thing in common: they make us excited about the future of our industry.

“With Covid cancellations across the country, this can sometimes feel like an unremittingly bleak time for theatre, but the array of superb talent included in this list should give us all great hope for its future.”

The list is as follows:

Atri Banerjee

Daniel Brodie and Matt Parritt

Emily Burns

Ryan Calais Cameron

David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoe Roberts

Seiriol Davies

Fly Davis

Sha Dessi

Carly Mercedes Dyer

Chris Foxon and George Turvey

Ameena Hamid

Shanay Holmes and Chris Steward

Jessica Hung Han Yun

Ola Ince

Nimmo Ismail

Ollie Jones and Clem Garritty

Swamp Motel

Amy Letman

Lorn Macdonald

Evie Manning and Rhiannon White

Katy Rudd

Abdul Shayek

Luke Sheppard

Arielle Smith

Lucy St Louis

Luke Thallon