David Berthold

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 internationally, and has led several key arts organisations. He was most recently Artistic Director of Brisbane Festival, one of Australia's major international arts festivals and Queensland’s largest arts and cultural event. Through his tenure of five festivals, 2015-19, [1] 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. [2]

In January 2020, he became Director of the Centre for Creative Practices at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Australia’s leading institute for education and training in the performing arts. He is also Executive Chair of Playwriting Australia, the national peak body for writing for the stage, a Trustee of the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award, a member of Melbourne Theatre Company’s Advisers’ Group, a member of the NSW Government's Theatre and Musical Theatre Arts Advisory Board, a member of the Helpmann Awards Theatre Panel, and sits on the Judging Panel of the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting (New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards).

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 (Australia's flagship theatre for young people, 1999–2003). He was also Associate Director of Sydney Theatre Company (Australia's largest theatre company, 1994–99), and Artistic Associate of the Queensland Theatre Company, 1991–94.

In addition to these companies, he has also directed productions for Melbourne Theatre Company, Playbox Theatre, Black Swan, Belvoir, the Sydney Opera House, NIDA, Queensland University of Technology, Opera Queensland, Auckland Theatre Company, the Royal National Theatre (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.[3][4] In 2013 and 2014, he curated a stream of independent theatre for the Brisbane Festival.

Berthold has directed many premieres of plays by major Australian writers and is particularly associated with the work of Nick Enright, Louis Nowra and Tommy Murphy.

Arts Hub claimed in 2006 that Berthold "turned Sydney's Griffin Theatre Company into one of the country's most visible arts companies."[5] In 2010, he won a Matilda Award for his "repositioning of La Boite Theatre Company and his direction of Hamlet".[6]

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

Berthold was born in Maitland, NSW, also the birthplace of Nick Enright, John Bell, Ruth Cracknell and Abbie Cornish, and studied (and later taught) 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 Sydney Opera House. He has since directed some opera.