‘Club’ a Beautifully Bittersweet Outing

“I’m sick of being young,” says Soos (Lauren Bowles), one of the twentysomething WASPs in “The Country Club,” presented by sej group productions at Mojo Ensemble in Hollywood.

The complaint resonates throughout Douglas Carter Beane’s beautifully bittersweet comedy about a close-knit group of East Coast preps who gather on holidays at an exclusive country club (splendidly evoked by Thomas A. Brown’s set). Even as they approach 30, these Ralph Lauren refugees occupy a state of suspended adolescence, their lives bounded by superficial manners but lacking purpose or gravity.

Many writers--from Jane Austen to A.R. Gurney--have offered similar glimpses of upper-crust disillusionment. But Beane (screenwriter of the current release “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar”) treats the topic with slicing wit and wistful sympathy (tellingly, this dying breed’s Independence Day bash is rained-out).

Under Paul Codiga’s sure direction, the young cast is top-drawer. Bowles plays Soos, perhaps the play’s moral focus, with an appealing mix of ennui and innocence. Bart Johnson is credible as Zip, unregenerate cad and object of Soos’ marital fantasies. And Elizabeth Bierbaum earns plenty of laughs as Froggy, resident gossip and spin doctor.

* “The Country Club,” Mojo Ensemble, 1540 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Sept. 23. $10. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours.