EDITOR’S NOTE | By Bret Bradigan

Creation versus Recreation

Mighty oaks were once nuts that held their ground

It’s a conversation we’ve had hundreds of times in Ojai – what sets us apart? What distinguishes Ojai from hundreds of other beautiful small towns?

I wrote about this topic several years ago, but it comes up often. Someone was comparing Ojai to our more glamorous cousins like Jackson Hole, Sun Valley and Telluride. “These are places where people go to recreate,” they said. Then another person said, “Yes, but Ojai is also a place where people go to create.” That’s the essential truth of Ojai — we are a place where people come to work, not just play. Or better yet, do both, as creation is the intersection of work and play.

This weekend the Ojai Playwrights Conference takes center stage on our cultural calendar, with the readings of plays from artists both new and established. It’s rightfully considered one of America’s finest new works development processes – taking eight or so playwrights with their ideas and spending two weeks in an intimate, tough love setting in classrooms at Besant Hill School with expert dramaturges and writers.

We’d like to think that the experience of being bathed in Ojai’s beauty, its charm and its people only enhances the artistry. The Playwrights Conference is different — it is a place where new works are nurtured and brought to life through the collaborative process, then get their first public airing. In both cases, though, the audience is key to the process – we are integral to the act of creation.

Think about it. Can you name another town this size that hosts, fosters and promotes more artistry than Ojai?

If we were to identify one trait that sets Ojai’s creative types apart from those in other small towns with large reputations, it would be in the bold and brave oddness of our artists and creators. We have more cranks and crackpots, nuts and misfits, than any other place this side of Venice Beach.

And that is our strength, the source of our vibrancy, distinct energy and identity.

“Eccentricity has always abounded when and where strength of character has abounded; and the amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage which it contained,” said John Stuart Mill. By the very nature of art, you must dare to be different; to create, not re-create.

As the saying goes, “the mightiest oak began as a nut that stood its ground.” If so, then us nuts in Ojai may be small, but we cast a large, ever-growing, shadow.