A Review of "Blessed Are," at the Passage Theater Company Michael Goldstein Ian Bedford, left, as Clive Murdoch, with Jo Twiss as the maternal Joanie Gallagher, in "Blessed Are" at the Passage Theatre Company. "Always leave them wanting more" is an axiom of show business that the playwright Jessica Bedford observes perhaps too well in her new drama, "Blessed Are," which the Passage Theater Company is presenting in its world premiere production in Trenton. The story, which Ms. Bedford gradually builds toward a dramatic crisis, centers on Clive Murdoch, who returns to his hometown in Pennsylvania after serving 17 years in prison for driving under the influence of alcohol during an accident in which several people died. His parents are no longer alive, and Clive is affectionately welcomed back by Joanie Gallagher, his late mother's best friend. She also happens to be the mother of a teenage buddy of Clive's who was among those killed in the crash. Now in his mid-30s, the reclusive Clive remains shadowed by his feelings of guilt, to the point of literally beating his head against the wall. Joanie has long ago forgiven him, however, and urges him to get on with rebuilding his world. As she puts it later, "Blessed are they who dare to live and breathe." Several weeks later, Miranda Walters knocks on Clive's door and introduces herself as a new neighbor. A pretty, divorced schoolteacher in her 20s, Miranda initially seems somewhat pushy, and she and Clive quickly tumble into bed. Their sudden intimacy is obviously a tonic for Clive, who tentatively wonders whether they might share a future together. When Joanie unexpectedly meets Miranda, their heated encounter ignites the crisis with which the playwright's 90-minute story abruptly comes to a halt. Although Ms. Bedford offers a visual suggestion in the play's final seconds that the lovers might still find happiness, she scarcely explores - let alone resolves - the emotional issues that suddenly face them. A drama that relies upon plenty of back story, "Blessed Are" ultimately takes the audience for a disappointingly short ride. Although the piece - the playwright's first full-length production - appears underdeveloped to me, perhaps others might find the will-they-or-won't-they question sufficiently intriguing to allow them to forgive such a hasty ending. The Passage Theater Company provides a supportive production that is staged with a firm but gentle hand by Adam Immerwahr, the company's resident director. Jeffrey Van Velsor, the set designer, presents a realistic kitchen-living-room arrangement with enough tidy little knickknacks and homey furnishings to evoke both Clive's working-class background and the fact that the house has been vacant since his parents" time. The director and Paul Kilsdonk, the lighting designer, separate the play's five scenes with gentle changes in the lighting rather than sharp blackouts. The sound design of faint suburban noises and pensive incidental music by Nick Kourtides also helps to lend a softer focus to the production. A burly actor who is married to the playwright, Ian Bedford believably depicts the deeply melancholy Clive with the tentative physical and social awkwardness of a gentle fellow who has spent half his life cooped up behind bars. He quietly and effectively projects Clive's gradually brightening spirits as his affair with Miranda blossoms. Kim Carson seems a less refined actor than Mr. Bedford, and she chiefly portrays Miranda's shifting emotions with a wide variety of smiles ranging from eager to uneasy. Then again, Miranda is harboring a secret for most of the time, so perhaps Ms. Carson is suggesting that her character's mildly forced sense of sunniness is only a mask for her actual feelings. Glowing with maternal warmth as Joanie - who cannot help but mist up when she recalls her dead son - Jo Twiss is especially lovely in an early scene with Mr. Bedford, when Joanie shows Clive how to prune back a sadly neglected rose bush. "The goal is to open the center so air and light can get in," Joanie tenderly advises him, her tone suggesting that Clive needs to do something similar with his own sorrowful past. "Blessed Are," by Jessica Bedford, is at the Passage Theater Company, 205 East Front Street, Trenton, through Nov. 4. For information: passagetheatre.org or (609) 392-0766.