The Holladay Arts Council is recognizing playwright Amy Banta for her exceptional talent and ability to skillfully craft worlds and characters from the depths of her imagination, masterfully navigating the delicate fine line between tragedy and comedy.

Banta‘s debut play, “Spartan Moms” explores the creative, chaotic life of a struggling artist and mom. Banta says, “It is a play depicting scenes of moms conversing in the wild. A middle-aged mom brings her kids to the park in search of time and space to practice her craft. As other moms crowd her park bench and the kids won’t leave them alone, she wonders if she will ever have time and space to create again. Disruptive children, quirky moms, and one unwieldy stroller stir up creative chaos as the clock ticks down to the next diaper emergency in this zany, heartfelt comedy.”

Performing on the dance team and color guard for the marching band in high school is where Banta fell in love with the use of props. In her current show a stroller is the main character. In fact, in a recent conversation, Banta mentions she is rebranding “Spartan Moms” as the ‘stroller stunt show.’

“Everyone on stage is going to struggle with that stroller!” Banta said. “Growing up, I always wanted to be a part of theater. I learned to sing and to dance. At the time I didn’t realize that dance movement was such a huge part of theater, but now I do.”

Banta majored in economics and math at Brigham Young University. After graduation, she married and moved to Washington D.C., where her husband attended law school at Georgetown University. Soon, she was hired by the Department of Defense, America’s oldest and largest government agency, to build spreadsheets for nuclear weapons systems. When asked if she discovered any dark secrets of intrigue while working for the defense department, she responded “no, unfortunately not, officially, I know nothing.” Since Banta’s husband was involved, most nights attending law school classes, Banta found a great opportunity to spend time exploring her theater interest.  

“As a performer, I didn’t get to be on stage in a theater production until my husband went to law school at Georgetown University,” Banta said. “Georgetown law school has their own little theater company called the Georgetown Gilbert and Sulivan society. I said to myself, ‘I’m going to be part of your school’s theater company.’ This experience allowed me to finally be in a school play and at a school I didn’t even attend. It was a student-run organization and open to anyone who was adjacent to the Georgetown law school community.” 

It was this performance opportunity that moved Banta in the direction of becoming a playwright.

“I’m not the consummate performer,” Banta said. “These girls in the “Spartan Moms” cast come to life every single time they perform. I get on stage and never know if I will come alive or fall on my face. I absolutely love the character-building process of the acting part of performing. I spend a lot of time in the character analysis in what I think about my character and actually being able to embody it. In part, I think it was this reflection process that moved me toward becoming a playwright.”

“Spartan Moms” is sponsored by the Holladay Arts Council and Josh and Merilee Adams, founders of Courage Theater a nonprofit theater company established in January of 2024. The theater company’s mission is to bring theater to communities for a reduced cost making it more accessible to families. The company highlights local playwrights and provides the opportunity to produce their pieces. “Spartan Moms” is the company’s second production. 

“When Amy sent me her “Spartan Moms” script several months ago, I was so impressed I knew we simply had to do this show,” director Josh Adams said. “It is brilliant in the way that it was written. The script contains really intelligent rhetoric. It’s clever, fast, and true to life. Honestly, it’s what we all feel but don’t want to say. We are anxiously waiting for a sequel to ‘Spartan Moms.’ We want to work with Amy on all of her projects.”

“Spartan Moms” was specifically written for Banta’s friends who are middle-aged moms and wanted to be involved in theater.

“In theater, you have maidens, the young ingénue and their love stories, the matrons, grandmothers, and wise old women, but very few plays focus on middle-aged moms with young children,” Banta said. “In this play, moms are still dealing with their children, but there are no children on stage.”

Community theater provides a great way to come out and connect through communal art. 

“I think the performance of “Spartan Moms” is going to be a hoot and a half,” Banta said. “I wrote this thing to be hilarious. The test audience was just dying with laughter. I think isolation and communal crises are going on in the world. We all need to get out of our houses, off our screens, and sit with real humans, a live audience, and watch as real people put on a stunt show with
a stroller.”

“Spartan Moms” opens Monday, May 1 at Holladay City Hall. Evening performances will be held Thursday through Saturday with a matinee performance included on Saturdays. Check Courage Theater’s website, couragetheater.org, for ticket availability, showtimes and audience guidelines. Although theater tickets are free, a five-dollar donation is requested. λ