David Berthold Explained

David Berthold is an Australian theatre director, who has also been artistic director of several major Australian arts organisations.

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..

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, 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.^[3]

Berthold was artistic director and CEO of La Boite Theatre Company from 2008 until 2014,^[4] before being appointed as artistic director of the Brisbane Festival in 2014, serving in that role from 2015^[5] until 2019.

Since January 2020 and, Berthold has been artistic director in residence at the National Institute of Dramatic Art.^[6]

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:

• 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
• 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

• Black Box (Paul Hodge), Queensland Performing Arts Centre, 2024.
• 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.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Up north, it was a hotbed of talent . 8 October 2003 .
2. Web site: David Berthold .
3. Web site: Top honour for teen actors . 20 July 2003 .
4. Web site: The David Berthold Era . 26 March 2015 .
5. Web site: David Berthold takes reins of Brisbane Festival. 16 February 2014. Natalie . Bochenski .
6. Web site: David Berthold . NIDA . 19 April 2023 . 2 April 2024.
7. Web site: Artform Advisory Boards . 26 June 2019 .
8. Web site: David Berthold. Australian Plays Transform .
9. Web site: The Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award – Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation .
10. Web site: Sydney Theatre Awards .
11. Web site: Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting . 24 February 2020 .
12. Web site: Dunn . Carrie . Karimloo, Boggess, Ellis, Smith All Nominated In First BWW:UK AWARDS! . BroadwayWorld. 13 September 2010 . 2 April 2024.
13. https://web.archive.org/web/20110327112521/http://statements.cabinet.qld.gov.au/MMS/StatementDisplaySingle.aspx?id=73858 Queensland Government Ministerial Media Statement: Matilda Awards for Brisbane's top theatre