Jon Bernthal is in his preferred habitat: on a stage. At Los Angeles’ storied Rogue Machine Theatre, he volleys dialogue with actor Marin Ireland while rehearsing an upcoming performance of the play “Ironbound” as part of his decades-long passion project. Though the actor is due at the L.A. premiere of “The Accountant 2” in a few hours, his excitement for this particular process and the material is palpable. “Theater has always been the closest thing that I’ve ever known to church, to spirituality and to religion,” said Bernthal. “I feel like I have a connection to something so much bigger than myself. This is about [collaborating with] artists who love this and, like me, this thing saved their lives.”
In roughly two weeks, Bernthal will be back in that favored haven, in his adopted hometown. He and his co-artistic directors will launch the Ojai Theatre Festival with their inaugural production, “Ironbound.” Taking place at Ojai’s Chaparral Auditorium over two weekends in May, the project is a labor of love for everyone involved, most of whom are donating their time and talents. Bernthal is not only producing and acting, he’s funding the entire endeavor, a major component of which included renovating a closed public school building to use as the performance venue that will be donated to the local school’s arts department after the festival. “We’ve taken this old, historic, rarely used building from a defunct school district and we’ve refurbished it,” explained Bernthal. “We put in state-of-the-art lighting and sound, and we’re donating it to the Nordhoff theater department and to the Højs, who are [Nordhoff High School’s] drama teacher and dance teacher. They’re institutional artists that have raised so many young artists and now they will have a theater for their performances.”
Joining Bernthal on his mission are longtime friends Josh Bitton and Isidora Goreshter, who want to bring Broadway-caliber productions and arts programs to the local community. “We’re just three actors trying to figure out how to throw a theater festival in Ojai,” said Goreshter. “It was Jon’s idea, he’s always wanted to bring theater to Ojai.” Given Bernthal’s demanding work schedule over the last year and a half, the actor entrusted Bitton and Goreshter with big decisions and finding the space where they’d host the festival. “We had looked at a lot of buildings. I walked in [to the Chaparral] and had chills,” Goreshter continued. “And then Josh walked in and he was like, ‘This is it.’ The building means a lot to the community. It’s literally in the center of Ojai.”
Bernthal has lived in the small, formerly sleepy valley town for 10 years with his wife, Erin, and their three children. “Of all the places I’ve lived, it’s the most I’ve ever felt at home,” he said. “I’ve become friends with everybody on the school board. I play basketball with them and I’ve coached their kids.” Seeing firsthand how gentrification and rapidly rising housing costs have started to negatively affect the mostly blue-collar town, Bernthal set out to give back. “I’ve seen huge changes, and the thing that I think has suffered the most is the public school,” he said. “I want to show the kids [here] what a life in the arts is about.”…