Sadie Sink Is an Outstanding First-Time Tony Award Nominee

Sadie Sink is proving to be Stranger Things‘ most promising breakout actress. This morning, the 23-year-old earned her first Tony Award nomination for best actress at the 78 Annual Tony Awards for her leading role in John Proctor is the Villain.

John Proctor in the Villain is a new stage play by new playwright Kimberly Belflower. It is a revisionist take on Arthur Miller’s American classic The Crucible.

This morning, Sarah Paulson and Wendell Pierce presented the nominations for the 78 annual Tony Awards. John Proctor is the Villain, and the creative team earned seven nominations.

• Best Play 
• Best Featured Actress (Sadie Sink)
• Best Featured Actress in a Play (Fina Strazza)
• Best Featured Actor in a Play (Gabriel Ebert)
• Best Direction of a Play (Danya Taymor)
• Best Lighting Design of a Play (Natasha Katz and Hannah Wasilesk)
• Best Sound Design of a Play (Palmer Hefferan)

During an English class, five high school girls reevaluate The Crucible and how it relates to their lives. The girls and their teachers question the perspective of the play and how the girls themselves should navigate love, life, and sex education. All this stems from the controversial take: Why is John Proctor considered the story’s hero? 

Sink is Shelby Holocomb, a teenager returning to school after a prolonged, unexplained three-month absence after sleeping with her best friend’s boyfriend. 

Initial reviews for John Proctor is the Villain have been positive, going out of their way to praise Sink’s return to the stage. The Hollywood Reporter writes: “While the actress holds her own, channeling her character’s mix of teen angst and deeper emotional woundedness, her performance is buoyed by those of the women around her.”

“Sink’s Shelby is beautifully positioned just at the spot where you can’t tell the difference between impulse and illness.” New York Times journalist Jesse Green praised.

Sink is the youngest actress in her category; she is up against Laura Donnelly (The Hills of California), Mia Farrow (The Roommate), LaTanya Richardson Jackson (Purpose), and Sarah Snook (The Picture of Dorian Gray as Dorian Gray). 

John Proctor is the Villain opened on Broadway on April 14. Its final performance is scheduled for July 6. However, with the engagement this play is receiving, there is a chance for the Broadway to extend its run. 

Prior to joining the cast of Stranger Things, Sink made her Broadway debut at age ten in the 2012 revival of Annie. In 2015, she was a young Queen Elizabeth II in the Broadway run of The Audience. 

The 78 Annual Tony Awards will air June 8 on CBS and Paramount+, and Wicked star Cynthia Erivo will host.

Get tickets to John Proctor is the Villain here.