Simplicity Unravels Uneven ‘Loose Knit’

Theresa Rebeck’s “Loose Knit” tells the tangled story of five New York women who form an empowerment knitting circle. Like a novice knitter’s first scarf project, the play is unevenly wrought and simplistic. Yet the production at the Jewel Box Theatre Center features some convincing performances.

Rebeck takes on sibling resentment and rivalry, the woes of single women, female romantic competitiveness and the perils of a workplace dominated by men. The focus is scattered, and the ending becomes too obvious and drawn out.

Attorney Gina (Linda Nile), angry and trendy entertainment journalist Liz (Claire Dunlap), the flaky actress-caterer Margie (LeeAnne Matusek) who’s waiting for stardom, therapist Paula (Angela Robinson) and perfectionist homemaker Lily (Shelly Thoreson) meet weekly to knit and chat.

But Liz is having an affair with her older sister Lily’s husband, Bob (Michael Blain-Rozgay, understudy for Randy Irwin). Lily has her secrets, too.

Margie, Paula and eventually Liz mysteriously link up with the same hostile rich guy, Miles (Timothy Redmond Reilly), who prefers taking notes on his blind dates as if they were specimens to be dissected.

There are a few crises in the mix, and under Arturo Castillo’s direction the women are sympathetically portrayed. Dunlap’s fiery and self-destructive Liz and Thoreson’s nervous and motherly Lily are particularly good. The emoting and touchy-feely support comes across, but the writing isn’t as sharp as Rebeck’s other recently performed works--”Rebeck Revisited” or even “Spike Heels.”

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* “Loose Knit,” Jewel Box Theatre Center, 1951-1959 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; this Sunday, 6 p.m. Ends March 11. $12. (323) 469-4434. Running time: 2 hours.