Brewsie And Willie
by Lisabeth Blake, Gertrude Stein, Ellen Violett

THE STORY: A touching and disturbing play about the men who fought World War II, and their loneliness and confusion after it was over.

The war has just ended and Brewsie and Willie, along with other “walking wounded” G.I.s, sit in a small Paris cafe, waiting for news as to when they will be shipped home.

Brewsie, always thinking out loud to anyone who will listen, mulls over the “why” of the whole thing, trying to find some sort of answer.

Willie declines to become involved in the discussions, insisting that there is no answer.

Yet, he is the only one who really listens to Brewsie.

The others are too filled with the anticipation of home.

When, at last, the orders arrive, they all are bewildered by the realization that they are afraid—afraid to return to a life for which they yearn, but no longer recognize.

Nevertheless, they set out to celebrate, and Brewsie, a paraplegic, is left alone to raise himself, like the crippled half-destroyed world he represents, and start the long walk back.

A most compelling play for those interested in an unusual one-act.