Jon Bernthal wants to bring Broadway-caliber theater to Ojai: It's 'always been a dream of mine'

Jon Bernthal is successful his preferred habitat: connected a stage. At Los Angeles’ storied Rogue Machine Theatre, helium volleys dialog with histrion Marin Ireland portion rehearsing an upcoming show of the play “Ironbound” arsenic portion of his decades-long passionateness project. Though the histrion is owed astatine the L.A. premiere of “The Accountant 2” successful a fewer hours, his excitement for this peculiar process and the worldly is palpable. “Theater has ever been the closest happening that I’ve ever known to church, to spirituality and to religion,” said Bernthal. “I consciousness similar I person a transportation to thing truthful overmuch bigger than myself. This is astir [collaborating with] artists who emotion this and, similar me, this happening saved their lives.”

In astir 2 weeks, Bernthal volition beryllium backmost successful that favored haven, successful his adopted hometown. He and his co-artistic directors volition motorboat the Ojai Theatre Festival with their inaugural production, “Ironbound.” Taking spot astatine Ojai’s Chaparral Auditorium implicit 2 weekends successful May, the task is simply a labour of emotion for everyone involved, astir of whom are donating their clip and talents. Bernthal is not lone producing and acting, he’s backing the full endeavor, a large constituent of which included renovating a closed nationalist schoolhouse gathering to usage arsenic the show venue that volition beryllium donated to the section school’s arts section aft the festival. “We’ve taken this old, historic, seldom utilized gathering from a defunct schoolhouse territory and we’ve refurbished it,” explained Bernthal. “We enactment successful state-of-the-art lighting and sound, and we’re donating it to the Nordhoff theatre section and to the Hojs, who are [Nordhoff High School’s] play teacher and creation teacher. They’re organization artists that person raised truthful galore young artists and present they volition person a theatre for their performances.”

Josh Button, Isidora Goreshter and Jon Bernthal privation to bring Broadway-caliber productions and arts programs to Ojai.

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

Joining Bernthal connected his ngo are longtime friends Josh Bitton and Isidora Goreshter, who privation to bring Broadway-caliber productions and arts programs to the section community. “We’re conscionable 3 actors trying to fig retired however to propulsion a theatre festival successful Ojai,” said Goreshter. “It was Jon’s idea, he’s ever wanted to bring theatre to Ojai.” Given Bernthal’s demanding enactment docket implicit the past twelvemonth and a half, the histrion entrusted Bitton and Goreshter with large decisions and uncovering the abstraction wherever they’d big the festival. “We had looked astatine a batch of buildings. I walked successful [to the Chaparral] and had chills,” Goreshter continued. “And past Josh walked successful and helium was like, ‘This is it.’ The gathering means a batch to the community. It’s virtually successful the halfway of Ojai.”

Bernthal has lived successful the small, formerly sleepy vale municipality for 10 years with his wife, Erin, and their 3 children. “Of each the places I’ve lived, it’s the astir I’ve ever felt astatine home,” helium said. “I’ve go friends with everybody connected the schoolhouse board. I play hoops with them and I’ve coached their kids.” Seeing firsthand however gentrification and rapidly rising lodging costs person started to negatively impact the mostly blue-collar town, Bernthal acceptable retired to springiness back. “I’ve seen immense changes, and the happening that I deliberation has suffered the astir is the nationalist school,” helium said. “I privation to amusement the kids [here] what a beingness successful the arts is about.”

Ojai’s Chaparral Auditorium nether construction.

(Josh Bitton)

An Ojai transplant himself, the histrion is dedicated to preserving the integrity of the close-knit assemblage portion fostering its creator growth.

“Opening a theater, doing a theatre festival has ever been a imagination of mine. It has been the dream,” said Bernthal. “I anticipation this doesn’t travel disconnected excessively grandiose oregon douchey, but arsenic I spot the spot changing successful the mode that it is, I wanted to bring thing large to this municipality and to bash it successful the close mode for the close reasons.”

The histrion is arrogant to beryllium fulfilling his imagination and supporting it financially. “I’ll beryllium honest, it is much costly than I ever thought, but you can’t chopped corners,” helium admitted. “You’ve got to bargain the lights, to physique this stuff. You’ve got to prosecute the actors, alert radical out, enactment radical up.”

Marin Ireland and Jon Bernthal prima successful “Ironbound,” playing astatine the Chaparral Auditorium connected May 9-11 and May 16-18.

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

Bernthal, Bitton and Goreshter anticipation that by launching the festival with a high-level accumulation similar “Ironbound,” locals and visitors alike volition beryllium motivated to enactment and enactment their efforts for years to come. The play, a gripping portrayal of a Polish migrant trying to past and win successful America, “is challenging, it’s biting, it’s hilarious, it’s dark, ace topical,” said the actor. Ireland, whom Bernthal refers to arsenic “a gangster” and “powerhouse,” returns to the starring relation she originated off-Broadway and performed successful 2018 astatine the Geffen Playhouse. The play, directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos, besides stars Shiloh Fernandez. “It’s an accidental for the students successful the municipality to spot a world-class performance.” Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok, who happily granted them usage of her work, volition enactment successful the festival arsenic well.

Watching the 48-year-old Bernthal successful enactment is simply a reminder wherefore he’s specified an in-demand star, known for delivering memorable performances with minimal surface time. In the past six weeks, Bernthal has promoted his enactment thriller “The Accountant 2” successful 3 antithetic cities, flown to and from Greece to movie Christopher Nolan’s star-studded “The Odyssey,” worked successful New York connected Marvel’s standalone “Punisher” peculiar that he’s penning and top-lining for Disney+ and returned to the Chicago acceptable of “The Bear,” which past twelvemonth earned him his archetypal Emmy. Not to notation banking episodes for the caller play of his deed podcast, “Real Ones.” Grateful for his occurrence and packed enactment schedule, Bernthal would emotion to walk much clip onstage. “There’s nary going back. There’s nary 2nd take,” helium said. “There’s thing that scares maine rather similar that, and there’s thing I’m rather arsenic addicted to arsenic that.”

Bernthal credits his mother, Joan, with recognizing his imaginable arsenic a performer aboriginal on. Born and raised successful an affluent suburb of Washington, D.C., his younger years were plagued with what helium called “complete buffoonery” — thoroughfare fights, misplaced aggression and behaviour that resulted successful aggregate arrests. Bernthal’s mom, a societal worker, sent him to his archetypal acting people fundamentally arsenic punishment, an archetypal toed dip that helium said felt electric, similar “touching the 3rd rail.”

Because helium was an jock heading to New York’s Skidmore College connected a shot scholarship, Bernthal scoffed astatine pursuing the creation form. In assemblage helium “took a theatre people truly by accident,” taught by his aboriginal mentor Alma Becker. “Tapping into the aforesaid vigor that successful my beingness got maine successful trouble, [pursuing] danger, risk, I recovered that taking the vigor of a country and turning it connected its head, scaring people, scaring myself … was really getting maine emotion and respect and encouragement.” Acting was the answer, erstwhile helium got retired of his ain way. “It was similar I was dormant acceptable connected proving everybody I was a existent Class-A f— up,” helium said. Bernthal was kicked retired of college, but Becker stuck by him and helped get him into the prestigious Moscow Art Theatre programme successful 1999. “She truly saved my life,” helium said of Becker, whose sanction Bernthal has lovingly tattooed connected his forearm, on with the emblem for the Moscow Art Theatre, a seagull successful flight.

Unsurprisingly, the 2 years successful Russia humbled him. “For a kid who thought helium was this pugnacious street-smart kid from D.C., I was successful for a precise rude awakening,” helium said. “It was the astir rigorous and disciplined grooming I had ever gone through.” The time Bernthal returned from Moscow, helium met his now-wife, who was a trauma nurse, and successful 2002 helium graduated with a maestro of good arts from Harvard. “There’s nary mode I would beryllium capable to enactment nutrient connected my kids’ array by doing this if it wasn’t for Alma and the determination to spell there.”

Launching the festival is giving Bernthal not lone an accidental to signifier his favourite creation signifier but to wage it forward. “We truly privation to marque theatre that everybody volition enjoy,” said Bernthal. “We privation to enactment connected plays that you could lone spot successful New York oregon London oregon possibly successful L.A., but to marque it each unfastened for the nationalist schoolhouse kids.” All “Ironbound” rehearsals volition beryllium unfastened to the public, and section students are progressive successful the production. “They’re helping with the lighting, they’re helping with the design. They’re going to enactment astatine the theater,” said Bernthal. “And each during our run, we’re going to person classes for the kids.”

Jon Bernthal (standing adjacent to manager Guillermo Cienfuegos) and histrion Marin Ireland rehearse an upcoming show of the play “Ironbound.”

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

“I truly privation to amusement L.A., and everybody [who attends], what the existent Ojai is each about,” helium said. “This is not going to beryllium valet parking and [trendy] restaurants, wherever you could beryllium successful L.A. This is an Ojai happening enactment connected by and with Ojai residents. It’s for this municipality and volition ever beryllium for this town.”

All proceeds volition spell straight to the schoolhouse district, with each associated programs and classes disposable for escaped for section students. They anticipation to grow the lawsuit from 1 play to an yearly festival with aggregate productions successful the coming years, to marque Ojai a bona fide theatrical destination.

“Ultimately, this is for my kids,” Bernthal continued. He and his woman person 2 sons, 13 and 12, and a daughter, 9. “I privation my kids to turn up astir and among a existent thriving theatre community. And this is going to dependable corny, but I cannot hold to person a clump of 10-year-old Ojai kids arsenic ushers. And erstwhile radical spot however polite and respectful and however contiguous they are, I privation that aforesaid magic to [happen for] those aforesaid kids erstwhile they ticker this analyzable play and beryllium [transformed] like, ‘What the f—?’ ‘Holy s—.’ ‘This is possible.’”