The send sends, the receiver receives, the sender makes sure the message was received by the sender. You're always communicating on two levels in the scene. First, the other actor. Second, the audience. Without both you're neither acting nor performing.
Competition has to do with the fact that real communication changes the receiver in some way.
When both parties are really communicating they're changing each other. Resistance and acceptance of that change is the area of competition. Remember losing can be winning. We don't go to the theatre to see everyday life. We see everyday life every day.