MARTHA BANTA
DIRECTOR
PRESS
Martha Banta's work alone gives reason to be happy the Adirondack Theater Festival is back!
-Troy Record for Times of War
Director Martha Banta's staging is good and at times risk taking for the Shelterhouse.
-Cincinnati Herald for Barbara's Blue Kitchen
New York–based director Martha Banta’s canny production puts the pedal to the metal. If there are gaps in the dramaturgy, the energetic staging flies over them like a hot flash, high on tequila and menopausal-female empowerment.
-The Phoenix
for Women Who Steal
Directed by Martha Banta, the festival's artistic director, the production is being given the absolute best of what this formidable company has to offer. Believe me this 85-minute play (by Melissa James Gibson) is worth every second.
-Daily Gazette for
All is Not
Credit the director, Martha Banta, with a brisk and finely tuned production.
-New York Times for The Safety Net
Director Martha Banta's staging is impecable and her deep understanding of material obvious.
-Daily Gazette for Three Tall Women
Named Best Equity Director for Capital Region:
Martha Banta is the artistic director at ATF and creates some of its best productions...not only can she direct popular fare that makes money for its producers, she can direct capital-A Art that real people will want to see, too.
-Metroland
Best of Capital Region
Much of the success of the play is because of Banta's skillful direction.
-Troy Record for Family Business
The multi scened play is assuredly and tightly directed by Martha Banta.
-Back Stage for Cater Waiter
Martha Banta helms with "WIT" and her usual taste and penchant for clear storytelling. Banta makes plays that twist and turn reality come across as easily readable even to the novice theatergoer and she does this without corrupting any of the work's edginess.
-Times Union for WIT
Martha Banta, a master of making unusual spaces enrich an experience, directs the work with intelligence and sensitivity. ATF is creating magic with The Lakes End.
-Troy Record for The Lakes End
Director Martha Banta Is at the top of her Game.
-Chronicle for The Deal
Martha Banta's direction is exceptional, keeping the action, and the actors, moving along at a frantic pace, while also making sure that each gag is given its proper due.
-Broadway World for 39 Steps St. Louis
What pushes the play into the very good-to-excellent category is how it's staged.
-Telegraph for Women who Steal
Besides the talented cast, this production also benefits immeasurably from Martha Banta's lively direction and the very apt stagecraft.
It's fitting, then, that "Filming O'Keeffe" is being expertly directed by ATF co-founder and former longtime artistic director Martha Banta. A specialist in shaping new material Banta has created a compelling production that, while being an excellent evening of theater in its own right, is also a testament to the value of regional theater companies' creation of new work.
-Times Union for Filming O'Keefe