Wrestlers
by Bill C Davis

THE STORY: Moving back and forth in both time and place, alternating flashbacks with present action, the play illuminates the lifelong rivalry of two brothers who differ radically in attitude and temperament.

Bobby, the dominant older brother, was the one who always excelled at sports and studies, and from whom great things were expected; while his younger sibling, the easygoing, less ambitious Monty, always seemed to be cast in the role of the loser.

But, as the play begins, Bobby, having flunked out of law school and making do with a dead-end job in a Manhattan department store, is the one adrift; while Monty, now a gym teacher, is happily ensconced with his girlfriend, Angie, in an upstate village.

Concerned about his brother, Monty invites Bobby to join them on weekends, but as the juxtaposition of scenes from the past and present so effectively underscores, the old competitiveness soon flares up, this time with Angie caught in the middle.

While she loves Monty, she is drawn to the tidy, efficient and more worldly Bobby, and when he proposes to her, Monty, reacting instinctively to his accustomed domination by his brother, reluctantly backs off—before pulling himself together and making a counterproposal.

In the end, however, Angie can't (or won't) decide between the two and departs—leaving Monty and Bobby as they were and always will be: two brothers inextricably bound by a filial affection forever challenged by rivalry and conflict.