“‘How to Transcend a Happy Marriage’ is the love and mating ritual we all need” – Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle. Their childlike giddiness about the taboo topic is exactly what playwright Sarah Ruhl tears to shreds. Her stranger, Pip (Fenner), is involved in a polyamorous thruple, or “triad” as the three of them like to call it. But the lasting impression is … But the lasting impression is … There is abundant sex and nudity in Sarah Ruhl’s new play, “How to Transcend a Happy Marriage,” along with some brainy conversation … Newhouse Theater. Then, unfortunately, Ruhl inserts an intermission, spins out 35 more minutes of chatty whimsy and calls the sum How to Transcend a Happy Marriage. ” ‘How to Transcend a Happy Marriage’ is the love and mating ritual we all need…(Sarah Ruhl) makes quiet, reflective, exploratory moments — where characters break open who they are and find someone new inside — just as momentous as a sex party.” -Lily Janiak, SF Chronicle HOW TO TRANSCEND A HAPPY MARRIAGE explores the boundaries of monogamy and the limits of friendship. Omar Metwally, Marisa Tomei, Lena Hall, Austin Smith, and David McElwee star in How to Transcend a Happy Marriage. Though its script may be lacking in eloquence, the cast of “How to Transcend a Happy Marriage” provides the play with a roller coaster ride of hilarity and absurdity. “This play is about polyamory” we hear audience members whisper to each other before the play starts. And what happens when parents who have forgotten their own wildness have a wild rumpus all their own? The play pokes holes in society’s edges and speaks to our more primitive selves.” 4•1•1. HOW TO TRANSCEND A HAPPY MARRIAGE Script Review –Whimsy and Social Critique Posted on March 19, 2020 March 19, 2020 by Brent Ervin-Eickhoff Editor's Note-- Read an earlier Picture This Post review of a play by the same author- Sarah Ruhl. This new play is a subversive enchantment. Running Time: 2 hours, including one intermission "HOW TO TRANSCEND A HAPPY MARRIAGE is a subversive enchantment." “This play is about polyamory” we hear audience members whisper to each other before the play starts. At first, “How to Transcend a Happy Marriage,” a Lincoln Center Theater production directed by Rebecca Taichman and featuring Marisa Tomei, would appear to be in a more conventional mold. Marisa Tomei, Robin Weigert, Omar Metwally and Tony Award winner Lena Hall appear in 'How to Transcend a Happy Marriage,' a new play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl. With "How To Transcend A Happy Marriage" she kept me intrigued as well, but wandered off the main road so far that when the play reached its conclusion, it felt more like the bus stopped and we all had to get out as opposed to having reached a destination. (Highest rating!) Bay Area Premiere! With How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, the playwright Sarah Ruhl offers a less astringent variation on the same theme. How to Transcend a Happy Marriage review. How to Transcend a Happy Marriage runs Friday-Saturday, September 28-29, 8 p.m., at Center Stage Theater (751 Paseo Nuevo).