Elevating the Magic of Theater

Ojai’s Nordhoff High School Gets a Shot of Star Power From Jon Bernthal in Refurbished Downtown Space

Rehearsals for the Ojai Theater production of 'Ironbound' | Photo: Isidora Goreshter

Actor Jon Bernthal, known for his roles in The Walking Dead, The Bear, and the recently released The Accountant 2, has been an Ojai resident for over a decade, raising a family with his wife in the small community. In that time, he’s seen the fabric of the town change drastically. Like much of the Central Coast, Ojai has undergone a recent population reshuffle due to wildfire devastation and people seeking refuge from COVID lockdowns in congested urban areas. “Ojai has always been a place where folks like me moved because we wanted to put family first,” says Bernthal. “And slowly but surely, a lot of folks have opted to bring their own culture rather than celebrate the culture that’s here. Being one of those — for lack of a better word — L.A. jerks who came up here … I really wanted to give something back to this community that I love so much.”

As outside wealth ousts Ojai natives, Bernthal notes that the public schools have become a casualty of shrinking enrollment and budgets as property values skyrocket. “I’m very dear friends with many of the people that teach at Nordhoff Junior/High School … and the talent coming out of that school and the talent from that teaching staff is so unbelievable,” he says. “But there’s less and less money … anything that we can do to bolster it, anything we can do to highlight how wonderful these teachers are, especially the theater and dance departments — I’m going to do it.”

The husband-and-wife team behind the beloved performing arts programs at Nordhoff are John and Kim Hoj, both three decades deep in their education careers. A lifelong dancer, Kim Hoj began as a psychology teacher but had the opportunity to start a dance program at Nordhoff in 2004. What began as a single class with 20 students has evolved over the last two decades into four classes and a student dance company. John Hoj began as a history teacher but eventually took over the theater program with what he calls a very “blue-collar” approach: “I’m continually growing with the students,” he explains, “figuring out all the different elements and parts — learning by doing.”

Jon Bernthal rehsearses for the Ojai Theater production of ‘Ironbound’ | Photo: Isidora Goreshter

Bernthal and his team of collaborators have spearheaded the refurbishment of a downtown theater space intended for use by the Nordhoff performing arts departments. The theater, an old auditorium that sees limited use, can seat around 300 — a nice upgrade from Hoj’s current space, which seats about 50. A team of hotshot theater professionals from Los Angeles were hired to come in and re-envision the space. “We put in a state-of-the-art light grid and sound system, and we’re building a proper black box with seating within the theater,” says Bernthal. “The idea is for the Nordhoff theater department and dance department to go forward and use it for their own productions.”

“It shows a real sense of commitment for someone like Jon Bernthal to say, ‘Hey, I’m a member of this community, and I want to contribute,’” says John Hoj. “It’s such a kindness to offer.”

The first production in the new theater will be Martyna Majok’s Ironbound, an acclaimed drama about the price of love in an expensive world. Starring (along with Bernthal) Marin Ireland and Shiloh Fernandez, Ironbound tells the story of Darja, an immigrant woman at three distinct points in her life. Her experience explores pragmatism, the negotiation between love and comfort, the balance between want and need, and the transactional nature of a life lacking privilege.

Bernthal calls the play an intimate journey of one woman’s relationship with love and sacrifice, and how she navigates the world. “I truly believe that everyone who sees this … will see parts of themselves in this woman and in the story and in each of these characters,” he says. “One of the things that excites me about art is when a certain note, a certain color in a painting, or a certain tone that an actor takes, illustrates a color of living that you’ve never really been able to place before, but it’s so enormously familiar … I promise you this play will bite.”

Rehearsal for the Ojai Theater production of ‘Ironbound’ | Photo: Isidora Goreshter

The long-term objective of the Ojai project is to start a theater festival that would turn the community into a high-end hub of creation for performance artists far and wide. Ironbound (and the intention behind future shows like it) is not an “inaccessible professionals in and out the back door” scenario. Rehearsals, tech, and design will be open for students to watch and learn. “Students can see the actual work being done,” says Hoj. “There’s no better education than to see it in action. They may hear the theory from me, but when they see it play out in practice, they can really consider where they need to build their skills. That experience is irreplaceable.”

Bernthal views this model, based on the Williamstown Theatre Festival experience he knew as a young actor in New York, as an opportunity for apprenticeship, fellowship, education, and growth in a professional setting. Williamstown, which is roughly the same distance from NYC as Ojai is from L.A., is a festival that attracts youth and professionals alike to bring new work of all kinds to the various stages around town. The whole ecosystem is a primordial soup of creativity that draws artists from all over the country to craft and discover within their discipline.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to be a part of a real theater festival, and I think Ojai is the perfect community for that,” he says. “Williamstown was a place that all the young actors who were coming up in my time wanted to be a part of. It was a place where young artists could take classes and be around working professionals, and there’s no better way to learn.”

The team for the Ojai Theater production of ‘Ironbound’ | Photo: Isidora Goreshter

We live in the age of too many kids addicted to constant hits of TikTok dopamine, glassy eyed in class, unable to concentrate on “core” curriculum. Yet too many schools still insist on cutting arts programs, which are, in many cases, the only classes left that keep kids coming to school at all. “The arts are so essential. The perspective is that they aren’t considered part of the core curriculum, but I challenge that,” says Kim Hoj. “It’s commitment and work. I’m trying to build people who are not just theater people, but high-level people that function on any level because they understand how to solve problems in real time and work together to do that. You can’t replace that with a machine or a component or AI because it’s all about relationships and variables.”

Bernthal sees the value of theater and wants it to be accessible to the community he’s adopted as his own. “Being one of the L.A. people that came here,” he says, “I want to offer something and give something back, because I love this place so much.”

See Ironbound May 9-10, 16-18 at Ojai’s refurbished Chaparral Auditorium. All proceeds will go to support the students of the Nordhoff High Theatre Arts Program. nordhoffdrama.com/ironbound