The Florida premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s How to Transcend a Happy Marriage opens Feb. 21 at The Laboratory Theater of Florida.
Set during an upscale dinner party, two couples decide to invite an unusual young polyamorous woman and her two companions to join them. What happens next pushes the boundaries of friendship, marriage and parenthood.
“Sarah Ruhl is a wonderful writer with an incredible imagination and with How to Transcend a Happy Marriage she has given us a story that is both profoundly human and fantastically mythical and magical at the same time. I can’t wait for the southwest Florida audience to go on this journey with us!” says director Steven Ditmyer

The show will be directed by New York director, international acting coach and Meisner alum Steven Ditmyer. As an actor, Steven has worked with the likes of Al Pacino, Arthur Miller, Tony Randall, Ron Rifkin, Sam Waterson, Dianne Wiest and more. As a director, he has worked with Alec Baldwin, Charles Durning, Jack Klugman and many more. He has also agreed to teach not only a three-hour Meisner taster workshop but a full Level One certification course in the Meisner technique, which is widely considered to be one of the foundational methods for actors.
How to Transcend a Happy Marriage plays from Feb. 21 through March 14 at the Laboratory Theater of Florida. A half-price preview night will be Feb. 20. Performance dates are Feb. 21, 22, 27, 28, 29 and March 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 at 8 p.m.; and March 1, 8, 14 at 2 p.m.
There will be an opening night reception with hors d’oeuvres by The Gathering Place starting at 7:15 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21. For teens, there will be a cast and crew meet & greet with pizza donated by Downtown House of Pizza starting at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, followed by a complimentary performance for the teenagers; reservations are required. The theater has new seating: Rows A, B, and C are on the floor, rows D and above are on risers.
Tickets are available to purchase on www.Brownpapertickets.com or by calling the box office at 239-218-0481. For additional savings, guests may purchase a 2019-2020 season pass. For more information visit www.LaboratoryTheaterFlorida.com or the physical location at 1634 Woodford Ave. in the Fort Myers River District.