←Recommendations of THE SUBTLE, SUBLIME TRANSFORMATION OF BENNY V.

"Someone imagined this, created this. Someone changed the world by making this." Yes, Steven G. Martin certainly has. It's the most life-affirming and lovely story I've experienced in awhile. Yes, experienced. We [run] toward, looking for, something greater than [ourselves] alongside Martin's magnificent protagonist. I love this play.

This is a whimsical, powerful piece with a tight but mutable structure that is just as alive as the vivid characters that inhabit the world of the play. I don't understand how it is so language-rich and funny but still so austere - every single world has such weight and intentionality. It's highly theatrical and had just the right amount of magic. Most of all, it's hopeful! After all, if Benny V. can have a sublime transformation, why can't you? Ultimately, this play is a warm, cozy, and simple story, brilliantly told, full of lots of heart and beauty.

For Benny V., the perfectly average man, world’s tallest dwarf, shortest giant, smartest imbecile, and dumbest genius, his transformation begins with art. As Benny V., the boring, timid copywriter, he finds his creativity ignited and embarks on a journey that has him exploring cooking, Mount Denali, astronomy, language, and more. Will Benny V. overcome naysayers, self-doubt, and a lackluster track record? This play holds out promise. Read it, and join Benny V. on a journey of transformation.

A beautiful, theatrical reminder that life begins and begins again and again, whenever you decide. Thrillingly visual and emotional. I want to hug this play.

I would describe Benny V. as a coming of age play about a middle aged man who should have died two years ago, and it is wonderful. Benny V.'s adventure is about the joys of discovering and embracing something new and and finding that it is never too late to start living. From the wry meta commentary the Compere touts, to the poignant strangers turned friends it's the characters that bring this Benny V. (both the show and the man) to life. I hope Benny V. finds his way to your local stage sometime soon.

Engaging, enchanting, and theatrically exciting, Steven G. Martin's "The Subtle, Sublime Transformation of Benny V. is pure delight from start to finish. I was caught up in the world Martin created, a world populated with wonderful, sharply drawn characters whirling around the adorable Benny V., an everyman to love, root for, and cheer as he realizes his own self-worth. A beautiful play.

An engaging and beautifully written play about mid-life crisis and transformation. About realizing one's self-worth and deciding to be happy. Highly recommend!

Benny V. is adorable in his bumbling way, and his transformation feels so real and is so earned, I root for him throughout this earnest exploration into his used-up should-have-expired life until he allows himself to be changed! The world of this play holds so much wonder and awe that I am charmed, my impatience put on hold, my empathy stretched, and my heart warmed!

Martin's play starts as a workplace comedy expands into a warm, open-hearted exploration of the human experience, and one man’s adventures attempt to experience life and everything it has to offer. It also has a lot to say about cynicism and doubt, those trolls who surround us and live within us, who work tirelessly to tear down even our most modest ambitious. It's full of wonder, hope and humor, and I highly recommend it.

Plays like this remind me that the power of wonder in our lives is what can transform all of us. The action shows us how wonder opens up closed-off Benny like a flower. And when the play brings all of what we think he has achieved crashing down around him--it reminds us and assures us that it's our own ability to transform that is the real wonder in our lives. Highly theatrical, mixing expressionism, realism, a sense of circus. A beautiful, resonant work.