David Berthold is an Australian theatre and festival director, who has also been

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

of several major Australian arts organisations.

Early life and education

David Berthold was born in Maitland, New South Wales. He spent some years training as an

opera singer Opera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a lib ...

, and won the Joan Sutherland Scholarship at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

Career

Berthold has been active in theatre since at least 1984, acting and directing. He began his career as an actor, one of his earliest roles being in the Hunter Valley Theatre Company's production of

David Williamson David Keith Williamson (born 1942) is an Australian playwright, who has also written screenplays and teleplays. He became known in the early 1970s with his political comic drama '' Don's Party'', and other well-known plays include '' The Clu ...

's '' The Perfectionist'' in April to May 1984. He has been director of several theatre companies in Australia. He was associate director of

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in the Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Theatre ...

from 1994 to 1999, before being appointed artistic director and CEO of Australian Theatre for Young People in 1999. He then took up the post of artistic director and CEO of Griffin Theatre Company from 2003 until 2006. Between 2008 and 2019, Berthold led major arts organisations in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. He was artistic director and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of La Boite Theatre Company from 2008 until 2014. He was then appointed as artistic director of the Brisbane Festival, serving in that role from 2015 until 2019. He transformed the festival into Australia's largest major international arts festival, presenting more works to more people than any other. Since January 2020, Berthold has been artistic director-in-residence at the

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...

in Sydney.

Other activities

He was on the judging panels of ''Time Out'''s 2021 Future Shapers Awards, Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting in 2020/21, and the

Sydney Theatre Awards The Sydney Theatre Awards are annual awards to recognise the strength, quality and diversity of professional theatre in Sydney, Australia. They were established in 2005 by a group of major Sydney theatre critics. The awards recognise mainstage and ...

in 2023. Berthold was a member of the NSW Government's Theatre and Musical Theatre Arts Advisory Board. he is on the boards of Hothouse Theatre and Australian Plays Transform. He is also a trustee of the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award.

Recognition and awards

In 2010, Berthold was nominated for a BroadwayWorld UK Award for Best Direction of a Play, for his London West End production '' Holding the Man''. In 2010, Berthold won a Matilda Award for his "repositioning of La Boite Theatre Company and his direction of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

''".

Productions

From 1984 until the present (2024), Berthold has assumed the role of actor, adaptor, artistic director, assistant director, director, and co-director on numerous productions, notably with the Sydney, Griffin, La Boite, and Queensland Theatre companies as well as the Australian Theatre for Young People.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berthold, David Australian theatre directors People from Maitland, New South Wales University of Newcastle (Australia) alumni Academic staff of the University of Newcastle (Australia) Living people Year of birth missing (living people)