Jon Bernthal opens a theater in Ojai, realizing a lifelong dream

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 Hojs, 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.”

Ojai’s Chaparral Auditorium under construction.

(Josh Bitton)

An Ojai transplant himself, the actor is dedicated to preserving the integrity of the close-knit community while fostering its artistic growth.

“Opening a theater, doing a theater festival has always been a dream of mine. It has been the dream,” said Bernthal. “I hope this doesn’t come off too grandiose or douchey, but as I see the place changing in the way that it is, I wanted to bring something great to this town and to do it in the right way for the right reasons.”

The actor is proud to be fulfilling his dream and supporting it financially. “I’ll be honest, it is more expensive than I ever thought, but you can’t cut corners,” he admitted. “You’ve got to buy the lights, to build this stuff. You’ve got to hire the actors, fly people out, put people up.”

Marin Ireland and Jon Bernthal star in “Ironbound,” playing at the Chaparral Auditorium on May 9-11 and May 16-18.

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

Bernthal, Bitton and Goreshter hope that by launching the festival with a high-level production like “Ironbound,” locals and visitors alike will be motivated to participate and support their efforts for years to come. The play, a gripping portrayal of a Polish immigrant trying to survive and succeed in America, “is challenging, it’s biting, it’s hilarious, it’s dark, super topical,” said the actor. Ireland, whom Bernthal refers to as “a gangster” and “powerhouse,” returns to the starring role she originated off-Broadway and performed in 2018 at the Geffen Playhouse. The play, directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos, also stars Shiloh Fernandez. “It’s an opportunity for the students in the town to see a world-class performance.” Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok, who happily granted them use of her work, will participate in the festival as well.

Watching the 48-year-old Bernthal in action is a reminder why he’s such an in-demand star, known for delivering memorable performances with minimal screen time. In the last six weeks, Bernthal has promoted his action thriller “The Accountant 2” in three different cities, flown to and from Greece to film Christopher Nolan’s star-studded “The Odyssey,” worked in New York on Marvel’s standalone “Punisher” special that he’s writing and top-lining for Disney+ and returned to the Chicago set of “The Bear,” which last year earned him his first Emmy. Not to mention banking episodes for the new season of his hit podcast, “Real Ones.” Grateful for his success and packed work schedule, Bernthal would love to spend more time onstage. “There’s no going back. There’s no second take,” he said. “There’s nothing that scares me quite like that, and there’s nothing I’m quite as addicted to as that.”

Bernthal credits his mother, Joan, with recognizing his potential as a performer early on. Born and raised in an affluent suburb of Washington, D.C., his younger years were plagued with what he called “complete buffoonery” — street fights, misplaced aggression and behavior that resulted in multiple arrests. Bernthal’s mom, a social worker, sent him to his first acting class essentially as punishment, an initial toe dip that he said felt electric, like “touching the third rail.”

Because he was an athlete heading to New York’s Skidmore College on a baseball scholarship, Bernthal scoffed at pursuing the art form. In college he “took a theater course really by accident,” taught by his future mentor Alma Becker. “Tapping into the same energy that in my life got me in trouble, [pursuing] danger, risk, I found that taking the energy of a room and turning it on its head, scaring people, scaring myself … was actually getting me love and respect and encouragement.” Acting was the answer, once he got out of his own way. “It was like I was dead set on proving everybody I was a real Class-A f— up,” he said. Bernthal was kicked out of college, but Becker stuck by him and helped get him into the prestigious Moscow Art Theatre program in 1999. “She really saved my life,” he said of Becker, whose name Bernthal has lovingly tattooed on his forearm, along with the emblem for the Moscow Art Theatre, a seagull in flight.

Unsurprisingly, the two years in Russia humbled him. “For a kid who thought he was this tough street-smart kid from D.C., I was in for a very rude awakening,” he said. “It was the most rigorous and disciplined training I had ever gone through.” The day Bernthal returned from Moscow, he met his now-wife, who was a trauma nurse, and in 2002 he graduated with a master of fine arts from Harvard. “There’s no way I would be able to put food on my kids’ table by doing this if it wasn’t for Alma and the decision to go there.”

Launching the festival is giving Bernthal not only an opportunity to practice his favorite art form but to pay it forward. “We really want to make theater that everybody will enjoy,” said Bernthal. “We want to put on plays that you could only see in New York or London or maybe in L.A., but to make it all open for the public school kids.” All “Ironbound” rehearsals will be open to the public, and local students are involved in the production. “They’re helping with the lighting, they’re helping with the design. They’re going to work at the theater,” said Bernthal. “And all during our run, we’re going to have classes for the kids.”

Jon Bernthal (standing next to director Guillermo Cienfuegos) and actor Marin Ireland rehearse an upcoming performance of the play “Ironbound.”

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

“I really want to show L.A., and everybody [who attends], what the real Ojai is all about,” he said. “This is not going to be valet parking and [trendy] restaurants, where you could be in L.A. This is an Ojai thing put on by and with Ojai residents. It’s for this town and will always be for this town.”

All proceeds will go directly to the school district, with all associated programs and classes available for free for local students. They hope to expand the event from one play to an annual festival with multiple productions in the coming years, to make Ojai a bona fide theatrical destination.

“Ultimately, this is for my kids,” Bernthal continued. He and his wife have two sons, 13 and 12, and a daughter, 9. “I want my kids to grow up around and among a real thriving theater community. And this is going to sound corny, but I cannot wait to have a bunch of 10-year-old Ojai kids as ushers. And when people see how polite and respectful and how present they are, I want that same magic to [happen for] those same kids when they watch this complicated play and be [transformed] like, ‘What the f—?’ ‘Holy s—.’ ‘This is possible.’”