David Berthold
David Berthold is an Australia theatre director[1] who has directed across Australia and in Berlin and London. He has also led several prominent Australian arts organiations.
Early life and education
Berthold was born in Maitland, New South Wales.[2]
He spent some years training as an opera singer, and won the Joan Sutherland Scholarship at the Sydney Opera House.[citation needed].
Career
He has been theatre director of several Australian, London, and Berlin theatre companies.[3]
He was artistic director and CEO of La Boite Theatre Company (2008–14),[4] artistic director and CEO of Griffin Theatre Company (2003–06) and artistic director and CEO of Australian Theatre for Young People (1999–2003).[5] He was also associate director of Sydney Theatre Company (1994–99).[6]
He was appointed artistic director of the Brisbane Festival from 2015 and directed five festivals between 2015 and 2019.[7]
Since January 2020, Berthold has been artistic director in residence at the National Institute of Dramatic Art.[8]
Other activities
Berthold is a member of the NSW Government's Theatre and Musical Theatre Arts Advisory Board,[9] on the Board of Australian Plays Transform,[10] a Trustee of the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award,[11] on the judging panel of the Sydney Theatre Awards,[12] and chair of the Judging Panel of the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting.[13]
Recognition and awards
In 2010, Berthold won a Matilda Award for his "repositioning of La Boite Theatre Company and his direction of Hamlet".[14] For his London West End production Holding the Man, Berthold was nominated for a BroadwayWorld UK Award for Best Direction of a Play.
Productions
 | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (January 2023) |
Sydney Theatre Company
Productions for Sydney Theatre Company playing at The Wharf and the Sydney Opera House:
- Saturn's Return (Tommy Murphy). World Premiere, August 2008. Revised production transferred to larger STC theatre in July 2009.
- Blackrock (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). World premiere.
- The John Wayne Principle (Tony McNamara) Two seasons, plus transfer to Playbox (Melbourne). World premiere.
- The Jungle (Louis Nowra). World premiere.
- Solitary Animals (Elaine Acworth). World premiere.
- Darling Oscar (Vanessa Bates). World premiere.
- The One Day of the Year (Alan Seymour). Plus tour.
- Betrayal (Harold Pinter)
- After the Ball (David Williamson). Plus tour.
- Love for Love (William Congreve)
- Stiffs (Karin Mainwaring)
- Poor Super Man (Brad Fraser). Australian premiere.
- Simpatico (Sam Shepard). Australian premiere.
- The Price of Prayer (Louis Nowra) and In the Club (Stephen Sewell), two new short plays as part of Sydney Stories.
Griffin Theatre Company
His productions for Griffin Theatre Company include world premieres of:
- Holding the Man (by Tommy Murphy from Timothy Conigrave's memoir). Six seasons, including transfers to Sydney Opera House, Company B at the Belvoir St Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse and Melbourne Theatre Company. This production played in London's West End, at the Trafalgar Studios, from 23 April 2010 with a cast including Jane Turner. Berthold was nominated for a BroadwayWorld UK Award for Best Direction of a Play.[15]
- The Emperor of Sydney (Louis Nowra)
- The Peach Season (Debra Oswald)
- The Marvellous Boy (Louis Nowra)
- Nailed (Caleb Lewis)
- Strangers in Between (Tommy Murphy). Toured nationally in 2008.
- The Woman with Dog's Eyes (Louis Nowra)
- Torrez (Ian Wilding). Tour to Playbox (Melbourne), Black Swan (Perth) and regional WA.
- The Secret Death of Salvador Dali (Stephen Sewell). Tour to La Boite Theatre (Brisbane).
La Boite Theatre Company
- Hamlet (Shakespeare)
- I Love You, Bro (Adam J A Cass)
- Julius Caesar (Shakespeare)
- Ruben Guthrie (Brendan Cowell)
- As You Like It (Shakespeare)
- Tender Napalm (Philip Ridley)
- Holding the Man (by Tommy Murphy from Timothy Conigrave's memoir)
- The Glass Menagerie (Tennessee Williams)
- Così (Louis Nowra)
Australian Theatre for Young People
For ATYP his productions include:
- Brokenville (Philip Ridley) (Tour to Cottesloe Theatre, Royal National Theatre, London).
- Hamlet (Shakespeare).
- Sparkleshark (Philip Ridley).
- Kinderspiel (co-production with Theater an der Parkaue, Berlin for the 2002 Sydney Festival at the Sydney Opera House).
- Operation Marlowe (Edward the Second, adapted by Berthold, in repertory with The Massacre at Paris, in a version by Tommy Murphy).
- Birds (new version by Stephen Sewell from Aristophanes, for the 2000 Olympic Arts Festival at the Sydney Opera House).
- Spurboard (Nick Enright) (in association with Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney and regional tour, World Premiere).
- The Dance of Jeremiah (Matthew Ryan).
Queensland Theatre Company
For QTC, he directed:
- The Heidi Chronicles (Wendy Wasserstein).
- Diving for Pearls (Katherine Thomson).
- Jumping Stories. Queensland regional tour.
- Hotel Sorrento. (Hannie Rayson).
- Composing Venus (Elaine Acworth). World premiere.
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.
References
- ^ "David Berthold".
- ^ "Up north, it was a hotbed of talent". 8 October 2003.
- ^ "David Berthold".
- ^ "The David Berthold Era". 26 March 2015.
- ^ "Top honour for teen actors". 20 July 2003.
- ^ "David Berthold takes reins of Brisbane Festival". 16 February 2014.
- ^ "David Berthold takes reins of Brisbane Festival". 16 February 2014.
- ^ David Berthold (Artistic Director in Residence) NIDA (archived 14 April 2023)
- ^ "Artform Advisory Boards". 26 June 2019.
- ^ "David Berthold". Australian Plays Transform.
- ^ "The Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award – Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation".
- ^ "Sydney Theatre Awards".
- ^ "Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting". 24 February 2020.
- ^ Queensland Government Ministerial Media Statement: Matilda Awards for Brisbane's top theatre Queensland Government, Finance and Arts, The Honourable Rachel Nolan [Media statement] (8 March 2011)
- ^ Dunn, Carrie (13 September 2010). "Karimloo, Boggess, Ellis, Smith All Nominated In First BWW:UK AWARDS!". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 24 December 2023.