Joanie is a headstrong but only mildly talented artist married to local crime boss Nick. May is a younger, truly gifted artist married to anxious-to-work-for-the-mob Jake.

The two couples drive "Framed," a darkly comic drama of intimacies and jealousies. The new work by local playwright Y York, "Framed" premieres this week at The ARTS at Marks Garage.

We painted York with Five Questions.

What's the story of "Framed," in a nutshell?

To me, the premise is: Ambition leads to isolation. Joanie is the ambitious character in the play. Her desire for acclaim exceeds her talent. And she throws away what she has to try and acquire this success with her art.

The drama is set in a couple of very different worlds.

It's set in the art world and the crime world, which is kind of reflective of a place I lived some years ago when these elements were very much around.

I was living in Brooklyn. And there were stores in our neighborhood where if you walked in to buy paper at the stationery store ... it wasn't a stationery store. It was a front. There was a candy store that didn't have any candy. ... While we were living there, there was a big murder. ...

And then in my apartment building, there were all of these artists.

"Framed" is also an at times unsettling portrait of the light and dark side of intimate relationships.

Yes. ... (The play) is set in the (art and crime) worlds, but it's about marriage. That emerged as I was working on it.

You see the ascendency of this one fumbling baby marriage — that really doesn't look like it's very good — through (the couple's) growing ability to communicate.

The other marriage looks like a great marriage when you meet it. But you see it deteriorate as the ambitious artist takes it for granted. (You see) that it is not the most important thing to her, and that she will use it to get what she needs for her ambition.

The characters in "Framed" often discuss art work — their own and the works of others. Is that why you commissioned works from local artists for the play's stage design?

Yes. But none of those are in the play.

You never see a painting that Joanie or May make. You never see a painting in (the) gallery that they talk about. You never see them, because seeing them would evoke in audience members their own dialogue regarding their own reaction to the art. And that is not important.

What is important is the character's reaction to the art. I also believed it would take people out of the play.

There are nine locations in the play. We requested that each of (the nine) commissioned pieces of art evoke the setting (of the scene). ...

They're so different from each other. It's really exciting.

Why did you choose The ARTS at Marks Garage for staging "Framed"?

I wanted someplace intimate. ... And because of the art connection, it seemed like a natural.

Because intimacy is so much a part of the play, (I liked) that there (isn't) going to be anywhere to escape. You can't sit in the back row and think that you're going to be safe from whatever happens on stage. ...

There's a human intimacy that I believe is present in all of my work. And that is threatening for some people. You can't get away from that at ARTS at Marks Garage.

You have to experience that along with these characters.

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.