Playwright’s Notes
Notes from William Mastrosimone
Given the choice, most high school males wouldn’t wrestle females. The general male consensus seems to be that facing a girl on the mat is a no-win situation succinctly expressed by Ryan: “If I win, I beat a girl; if I lose, I lose to a girl. Either way, I lose.”
That statement implies that a girl is less than a boy. As women have been acknowledged the intellectual equals of men, men have reserved the world of physical prowess as the last bastion of maleness. But in this play, that traditional world is challenged by Jenna, an undefeated wrestler who only wants to be seen as an opponent, not as a girl.
The play examines the fragile male psyche ensconced within the rock-hard musculature of the champion wrestler Ryan. Ryan and Jenna go to a place in the mind where neither high school kids nor adults have traveled—the world of total equality—a place where a female is on equal footing with a male.
The play is about fear and overcoming. It’s about the frightening world of total equality, where all fine distinctions disappear. In the end, Ryan’s notion of masculinity isn’t diminished by his loss to a girl, but rather, his view of manhood is enhanced.
The play asks a question to young males: How do you define your manhood?
“TAKE DOWN, BREAK DOWN” is not a sports story. Wrestling is the metaphor for the battle of the sexes in high school, and the world at large. The mat is where the long-standing notion of masculinity meets the newfangled female aspiration of total equality.