‘Spine’ Traces a Storyof Stressed-Out Lives

Angst is relative. Jessie McCormack’s “Spine” at the Coast Playhouse explores the comical human tendency to convert life’s molehills into looming and insurmountable mountains.

This two-character comedy transpires in a high-priced sanitarium, a haven for stressed-out rich people like Julie (McCormack) and Gwynn (Aliza Waksal), independently wealthy young women who have voluntarily checked into the facility to try and focus their increasingly blurry lives. Will milquetoast Gwynn find the resolve to join her hunky Australian boyfriend Down Under? Will budding scribe Julie summon the fortitude to apply to an elite writing school?

The two share a room and confidences as they wrestle with their individual demons. Of course, what constitutes a crisis for these two would be a luxury vacation for most poor working stiffs. However, that’s not the point of McCormack’s deft character study, which strings a surprising load of laughter along its slender thread of plot.

The pretty, blond Waksal and the rubber-faced McCormack play multiple characters, taking turns portraying Gwynn and Julie’s hysterically twitchy shrink, Dr. Sanders, who is eccentric to the point of lunacy. Director Craig Carlisle, who directed these actresses in an off-Broadway production of “Spine” last fall, once again officiates. The staging is smooth; the actresses show the assurance of long association; and McCormack displays an undeniable talent for the offbeat.

Of course, Julie and Gwynn bond, bicker, then bond again as they progress from spoiled brat-hood to privileged maturity. It’s what we expected and what we wanted to see. While hardly a gift to futurity, “Spine” is formidably glib, a pleasant diversion for trying times.

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“Spine,” Coast Playhouse, 8325 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Oct. 21. $20. (323) 655-8587. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.