Australian theatre director
David Berthold is an Australia theatre director.
Early life and education
Berthold was born in Maitland, New South Wales.[1]
He spent some years training as an opera singer, and won the Joan Sutherland Scholarship at the Sydney Opera House.[citation needed].
Career
Berthold has been director of several theatre companies in Australia.[2]
He began his career as associate director of Sydney Theatre Company from 1994 to 1999,[3] 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.[4][5]
Berthold was artistic director and CEO of La Boite Theatre Company from 2008 until 2014,[6][5] before being appointed as artistic director of the Brisbane Festival in 2014, serving in that role from 2015[3] until 2019.[5]
Since January 2020 and as of April 2024[update], Berthold has been artistic director in residence at the National Institute of Dramatic Art.[5]
Other activities
Berthold is a member of the NSW Government's Theatre and Musical Theatre Arts Advisory Board,[7] on the Board of Australian Plays Transform,[8] a Trustee of the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award,[9] on the judging panel of the Sydney Theatre Awards,[10] and chair of the Judging Panel of the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting.[11]
Recognition and awards
In 2006, Berthold was nominated for a BroadwayWorld UK Award for Best Direction of a Play, for his London West End production Holding the Man.[12]
In 2010, Berthold won a Matilda Award for his "repositioning of La Boite Theatre Company and his direction of Hamlet".[13]
Productions
Sydney Theatre Company
Productions for Sydney Theatre Company playing at The Wharf and the Sydney Opera House:
Griffin Theatre Company
His productions for Griffin Theatre Company include world premieres of:
La Boite Theatre Company
Australian Theatre for Young People
For ATYP his productions include:
Queensland Theatre Company
For QTC, he directed:
Other
- The Coronation of Poppea (Monterverdi and Elena Kats-Chernin). NIDA and Sydney Conservatorium of Music, 2023.
- Falsettos. NIDA, 2022
- Rolling Thunder Vietnam. Australian national tours, 2014, 2016 and 2023
- Mark Colvin's Kidney (Tommy Murphy) Belvoir, 2017
- Much Ado About Nothing (William Shakespeare). NIDA, Sydney, 2014.
- Così (Louis Nowra). NIDA, Sydney, 2013.
- Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart). Opera Queensland.
- Holding the Man (adapted by Tommy Murphy from Timothy Conigrave's memoir). London's West End, produced by Daniel Sparrow and Mike Walsh, 2010.
- Edward the Second (Christopher Marlowe). QUT, Brisbane.
- The Shape of Things (Neil LaBute). NIDA, Sydney.
- Blackrock (Nick Enright). QUT, Brisbane.
- Low (Daniel Keene). Theater an der Parkaue, Berlin.
- The Fruits of Enlightenment (Leo Tolstoy). NIDA, Sydney
- All My Sons (Arthur Miller). Auckland Theatre Company, New Zealand.
- Road (Jim Cartwright). La Boite Theatre, Brisbane.
- Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Gioachino Rossini). Associate Director, Opera Queensland, Brisbane and tour.
- Noye's Fludde (Benjamin Britten). Noye's Fludde Opera.
- The Piper of Hamelin (John Rutter). Noye's Fludde Opera.
- Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare). University of Newcastle Drama Department.
- Cloud Nine (Caryl Churchill). University of Newcastle Drama Department.
- Magic Afternoon (Wolfgang Bauer). University of Newcastle Drama Department.
- The Song Room (Louis Nowra). University of Newcastle Drama Department.
- Hansel and Gretel (Engelbert Humperdinck). Assistant Director, English National Opera, London Coliseum.