David Berthold is one of Australia's most prominent theatre directors and cultural leaders. He has directed for most of Australia's major theatre companies, as well as in London and Berlin, and has led several key arts organisations. He was Artistic Director of

Brisbane Festival Brisbane Festival is one of Australia's leading international arts festivals, and is held each September in Brisbane, Australia. Its presence dominates the city for three weeks in September and its line-up of classical and contemporary music, t ...

, one of Australia's major international arts festivals and Queensland’s largest arts and cultural event. Through his tenure of five festivals, 2015–19, Berthold transformed the Festival into Australia's largest major international arts festival, presenting more works to more people than any other, with an audience of more than one million people. Since January 2020 he has been Artistic Director in Residence at the National Institute of Dramatic Art ( NIDA), Australia’s leading institute for education and training in the performing arts. He is a member of the NSW Government's Theatre and Musical Theatre Arts Advisory Board, on the Board of Australian Plays Transform (APT) – the national development, publication and licensing body for writing for the stage – a Trustee of the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award, a member of

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre compa ...

’s Advisers’ Group, a member of the

Helpmann Awards The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001. The annual awards recognise achievements in the disciplines of musical t ...

Theatre Panel, and Chairs the Judging Panel of the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting (

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, t ...

). As an Artistic Director, he has led transformational change at several significant arts organisations. He was Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of La Boite Theatre Company (2008–14), Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of Griffin Theatre Company (Australia's leading new writing theatre company, 2003–06) and Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of

Australian Theatre for Young People Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) is a not-for-profit national youth theatre company located in Woolloomooloo, New South Wales, Australia. It was founded in 1964 by Eleanor Witcombe. History The first committee was formed in 1964 and ...

(Australia's flagship theatre for young people, 1999–2003). He was also 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 Thea ...

(Australia's largest theatre company, 1994–99). In addition to these companies, he has also directed productions for

, Playbox Theatre, Black Swan, Belvoir, the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century archit ...

, Queensland Theatre, NIDA,

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

, Opera Queensland,

Auckland Theatre Company Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) is a professional theatre company in Auckland. It was founded in 1992 and since 2016 has been based in ASB Waterfront Theatre in the Wynyard Quarter in central Auckland. History Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) w ...

, the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

(London), Theater an der Parkaue (Berlin), and in London's West End. He was the Festival Director of World Interplay 2007, the world's largest festival of young playwrights. In 2013 and 2014, he curated a stream of independent theatre for the

. Berthold has directed many

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its f ...

s of plays by major Australian writers.

Arts Hub The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creativity, creative expression, storytelling and culture, cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad ran ...

claimed that Berthold "turned Sydney's Griffin Theatre Company into one of the country's most visible arts companies." In 2010, he 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 tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

''".Queensland Government Ministerial Media Statement: Matilda Awards for Brisbane’s top theatre: http://www.cabinet.qld.gov.au/mms/StatementDisplaySingle.aspx?id=73858 He has served on many government and industry panels and committees as an arts advocate and advisor, including for the Australia Council,

Arts Queensland The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

, the Australian Musical Foundation, NIDA, Opera Queensland, QUT Creative Industries Faculty Advisory Committee, and several other universities.

Early life and education

Berthold was born in Maitland, New South Wales. He studied at the University of Newcastle, where he took an honours degree in English literature. He spent some years training as an opera singer and won the Joan Sutherland Scholarship at the

. He has since directed some opera.

Productions

Sydney Theatre Company

Productions for Sydney Theatre Company, Australia's largest theatre company playing at The Wharf and the Sydney Opera House: *''

Saturn's Return ''Saturn's Return'' is an Australian play by Tommy Murphy, first performed in 2008 in Sydney. Synopsis Zara, the heroine of the play, is happily settled in a relationship with her partner, Matt. Marriage, mortgages and midwives lie on the hori ...

'' ( Tommy Murphy). World Premiere, August 2008. Revised production transferred to larger STC theatre in July 2009. *''

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with tri ...

'' ( Nick Enright). World premiere. Two seasons, plus invitation to Australian Theatre Festival, Canberra. *''Chasing the Dragon'' ( Nick Enright). World premiere. *''Third World Blues'' (

David Williamson David Keith Williamson AO (born 24 February 1942) is an Australian dramatist and playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays. Early life David Williamson was born in Melbourne, Victoria, on 24 February 1942, and was brought up ...

). World premiere. *''

The John Wayne Principle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' ( Tony McNamara) Two seasons, plus transfer to Playbox (Melbourne). World premiere. *''

The Jungle ''The Jungle'' is a 1906 novel by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair's primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States. However, most readers we ...

'' (

Louis Nowra Mark Doyle, better known by his stage name Louis Nowra, (born 12 December 1950) is an Australian writer, playwright, screenwriter and librettist. He is best known as one of Australia's leading playwrights. His works have been performed by all o ...

). World premiere. *''Solitary Animals'' (

Elaine Acworth Elaine may refer to: * Elaine (legend), name shared by several different female characters in Arthurian legend, especially: ** Elaine of Astolat ** Elaine of Corbenic * "Elaine" (short story), 1945 short story by J. D. Salinger * Elaine (singe ...

). World premiere. *''Darling Oscar'' (Vanessa Bates). World premiere. *''

The One Day of the Year ''The One Day of the Year'' is a 1958 Australian play by Alan Seymour about contested attitudes to Anzac Day. Plot Alf’s son Hughie and his girlfriend Jan plan to document Anzac Day for the university newspaper, focusing on the drinking on An ...

'' (

Alan Seymour Alan Seymour (6 June 192723 March 2015) was an Australian playwright and author. He is best known for the play ''The One Day of the Year'' (1958). His international reputation rests not only on this early play, but also on his many screenplays, ...

). Plus tour. *''

Betrayal Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. O ...

'' (

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that span ...

) *''After the Ball'' (

). Plus tour. *'' Love for Love'' (

William Congreve William Congreve (24 January 1670 – 19 January 1729) was an English playwright and poet of the Restoration period. He is known for his clever, satirical dialogue and influence on the comedy of manners style of that period. He was also a mi ...

) *''Stiffs'' (

Karin Mainwaring Karin may refer to: * Karin (given name), a feminine name Fiction * ''Karin'' (manga) or ''Chibi Vampire'', a Japanese media franchise * Karin Hanazono, title character of the manga and anime ''Kamichama Karin'' * Karin Kurosaki, a character in ' ...

) *'' Poor Super Man'' ( Brad Fraser). Australian premiere. *''Simpatico'' (

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any writ ...

). Australian premiere. * ''The Price of Prayer'' (

) and ''In the Club'' ( Stephen Sewell), two new short plays as part of ''Sydney Stories''.

Griffin Theatre Company

His productions for Griffin, Australia's leading new writing theatre, include world premieres of: *'' Holding the Man'' (by Tommy Murphy from Timothy Conigrave's memoir). Six seasons, including transfers to

, Company B at the

Belvoir St Theatre Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Since 2016 and its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre contains a 330-seat Upstairs Theatre and a 80-seat ...

, Brisbane Powerhouse and

. This production played in London's West End, at the

Trafalgar Studios Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million pound restoration project aiming to reinstate it back to its o ...

, from 23 April 2010 with a cast including Jane Turner. *'' The Emperor of Sydney'' (

) *'' The Peach Season'' ( Debra Oswald) *'' The Marvellous Boy'' (

) *''Nailed'' ( Caleb Lewis) *''

Strangers in Between ''Strangers in Between'' is a two-act Australian play by Tommy Murphy. It won the 2006 NSW Premier's Literary Award for Best Play. It was first staged at Sydney's Griffin Theatre Company in February 2005, where it broke box office records. It ...

'' ( Tommy Murphy). Toured nationally in 2008. *'' The Woman with Dog's Eyes'' (

) *''

Torrez Torres (sometimes spelled Torrez) is a surname in the Portuguese and Spanish languages, meaning "Towers". History A surname derived from any of several towns called ''Torres'', plural of ''torre'' (tower), from Latin "turris." Torres is the 50t ...

'' (

Ian Wilding Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name ( Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name i ...

). Tour to Playbox (Melbourne), Black Swan (Perth) and regional WA. *''

The Secret Death of Salvador Dali ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' ( Stephen Sewell). Tour to La Boite Theatre (Brisbane).

La Boite Theatre Company

* ''

'' (Shakespeare) * ''

I Love You, Bro I, or i, is the ninth Letter (alphabet), letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in Engl ...

'' (Adam J A Cass) * '' Julius Caesar'' (Shakespeare) * '' Ruben Guthrie'' ( Brendan Cowell) * ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has ...

'' (Shakespeare) * ''

Tender Napalm ''Tender Napalm'' is a 2011 play by Philip Ridley. Ridley's eighth stageplay for adults, it premiered at The Southwark Playhouse, London on 19 April 2011. The original production was directed by David Mercatali, who previously directed the prof ...

'' (

Philip Ridley Philip Ridley (born 1957 in East London) is an English storyteller working in a wide range of artistic media. As a visual artist he has been cited as a contemporary of the 'Young British Artists', and had his artwork exhibited internationally. ...

) * '' Holding the Man'' (by Tommy Murphy from Timothy Conigrave's memoir) * ''

The Glass Menagerie ''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mother, ...

'' (

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

) * ''

Così ''Così'' is a play by Australian playwright Louis Nowra which was first performed in 1992 at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia. Set in a Melbourne mental hospital in 1971, ''Così'' is semi-autobiographical, and is the sequel to his pr ...

'' (

)

Australian Theatre for Young People

For ATYP, Australia's national flagship youth theatre, his productions include: *''

Brokenville ''The Storyteller Sequence'' is a series of one act dramas written for young people by Philip Ridley. The plays, all set in east London, use fairytale stories and theatrical conventions to reveal the traumas of their young protagonists. To da ...

'' (

) (Tour to Cottesloe Theatre,

, London). *''

'' (

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

). *'' Sparkleshark'' (

). *''Kinderspiel'' (co-production with

Theater an der Parkaue Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

, Berlin for the 2002

Sydney Festival Sydney Festival is a major arts festival in Australia's largest city, Sydney that runs for three weeks every January, since it was established in 1977. The festival program features in excess of 100 events from local and international artists ...

at the

). *''Operation Marlowe'' ('' Edward the Second'', adapted by Berthold, in repertory with ''

The Massacre at Paris ''The Massacre at Paris'' is an Elizabethan play by the English dramatist Christopher Marlowe (1593) and a Restoration drama by Nathaniel Lee (1689), the latter chiefly remembered for a song by Henry Purcell. Both concern the Saint Bartholom ...

'', in a version by Tommy Murphy). *''Birds'' (new version by Stephen Sewell from

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his fo ...

, for the 2000

Olympic Arts Festival Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

at the

). *'' Spurboard'' ( Nick Enright) (in association with

, Sydney and regional tour, World Premiere). *''The Dance of Jeremiah'' ( Matthew Ryan).

Queensland Theatre Company

For QTC, he directed: *''The Heidi Chronicles'' (

Wendy Wasserstein Wendy Wasserstein (October 18, 1950 – January 30, 2006) was an American playwright. She was an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. She received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1989 fo ...

). *''Diving for Pearls'' ( Katherine Thomson). *''Jumping Stories''. Queensland regional tour. *''Hotel Sorrento''. (

Hannie Rayson Hannie Rayson (born 1957) is an Australian playwright and newspaper columnist. She is recognised as one of Australia's most significant playwrights. Biography Rayson was born in Melbourne, Victoria and graduated from the University of Melbourn ...

). *''Composing Venus'' (

). World premiere.

Other

*'' Falsettos''. NIDA, 2022 *''

Mark Colvin's Kidney ''Mark Colvin's Kidney'' is a stage play by playwright Tommy Murphy. Plot The ''Sydney Morning Herald'' journalist Andrew Taylor described the play in a recent article: "Mary-Ellen Field's kidney is one of the better known body parts in Australi ...

''. Belvoir, 2017 *''

Rolling Thunder Vietnam Rolling is a type of motion that combines rotation (commonly, of an axially symmetric object) and translation of that object with respect to a surface (either one or the other moves), such that, if ideal conditions exist, the two are in contact ...

''. Australian national tours, 2014, 2016 and 2020. *''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

'' (

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

). NIDA, Sydney, 2014. *''

'' (

). NIDA, Sydney, 2013. *''

Così fan tutte (''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte ...

'' (

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

). Opera Queensland. * '' Holding the Man'' (adapted by Tommy Murphy from Timothy Conigrave's memoir). London's West End, produced by

Daniel Sparrow Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

and Mike Walsh, 2010. * '' Edward the Second'' ( Christopher Marlowe). QUT, Brisbane. *'' The Shape of Things'' (

Neil LaBute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best-known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, '' In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance F ...

). NIDA, Sydney. *''

'' ( Nick Enright). QUT, Brisbane. *''Low'' (

Daniel Keene Daniel Keene (born 1955) is an Australian playwright whose work has been performed throughout the world. Career Keene's plays have been performed in Australia, France, Poland and the United States. Many of his plays have been published in Fr ...

). Theater an der Parkaue, Berlin. *''The Fruits of Enlightenment'' (

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

). NIDA, Sydney *''

All My Sons ''All My Sons'' is a three-act play written in 1946 by Arthur Miller. It opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1949, and ran for 328 performances. It was directed by Elia Kazan (t ...

'' (

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' (19 ...

, New Zealand. *''Road'' ( Jim Cartwright). La Boite Theatre, Brisbane. *'' Il Barbiere di Siviglia'' (

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

). Associate Director, Opera Queensland, Brisbane and tour. *'' Noye's Fludde'' (

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

). Noye's Fludde Opera. *''The Piper of Hamelin'' (

John Rutter John Milford Rutter (born 24 September 1945) is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music. Biography Born on 24 September 1945 in London, the son of an industrial chemist and his wife, Rutte ...

). Noye's Fludde Opera. *''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'' (

). University of Newcastle Drama Department. *''

Cloud Nine Cloud Nine, cloud 9 or cloud nine is a name colloquially given to the state of euphoria, and may refer to: Books and comics * Cloud 9 (comics), a Marvel Comics superhero that debuted in ''Avengers: The Initiative'' * ''Cloud Nine'' (novel), a 19 ...

'' (

Caryl Churchill Caryl Lesley Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is a British playwright known for dramatising the abuses of power, for her use of non- naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes.

). University of Newcastle Drama Department. *''Magic Afternoon'' ( Wolfgang Bauer). University of Newcastle Drama Department. *''The Song Room'' (

). University of Newcastle Drama Department. *''

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hanse ...

'' ( Engelbert Humperdinck). Assistant Director,

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in Englis ...

, London Coliseum.

References

External links

Arts Hub ArticleGriffin Theatre Company websiteRepresentation/Contact: Mollison Keightley ManagementBrisbane Festival website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berthold, David Australian theatre directors People from Maitland, New South Wales University of Newcastle (Australia) alumni University of Newcastle (Australia) faculty Living people Year of birth missing (living people)