Monologues for men | "The Roadrunner Never Looks Down" by Gabriel Davis
The Roadrunner Never Looks Down
A dramatic male monologue from the play Dreams in Captivity
by Gabriel Davis
(Pax, an aspiring restaurateur, pleads with his wife, a talented actress, to come with him to L.A. and pursue their dreams together.)
You’re so scared. You’re even scared to say you’re scared. Say it! Say “I’m scared!” I’m scared of taking a risk on my dreams! I’m scared of my husband’s dreams! I’m scared to death!
You think this is childish? Livi, I’m trying to help us – get us free, really free – really. There’s a horrible gravity to this place. I’m afraid if we don’t get out soon...
I know, you think even if we go...the chances of us making it out there... are …. very small. And maybe you're right, but maybe... You know how in the old Roadrunner cartoons the Roadrunner would run right off a cliff and the coyote would chase him--
The roadrunner, he’d go "Beep, Beep" and fly clear across never looking down once. The coyote would run after him ... he'd run and run on nothing but air ... and only at the moment when he looked down, when he realized the impossibility of what he was doing...only then would he fall—but what if he never looked down...would he have made it?
Sure, it's only a cartoon, you're right about that. You keep telling me how we’re here in the "real world", "real people" who have to face the reality that the majority of restaurants fail, and the majority of actors are out of work—that's your truth- But, you’re also just looking down. You keep looking down.
You say “We’ve got vapors.” You say “We’ve got some elusive, ephemeral fantasy of a chance…” But you’re miserable here. Sorry … yes, you are useful here. You spend your days tending to the needs of the needy-- But what about your own needs?
Why would you say that? You think you’re not enough for me? You are everything to me. It’s all this … life in this stifling city slinging burgers at Steak’n Shake … that's not enough for me. I want us to be happy. And we can’t be happy here. We can’t stay.
Come on, Livi. Please. Let’s go.
This monologue is from the play Dreams in Captivity, available in print and digital editions.
You’re so scared. You’re even scared to say you’re scared. Say it! Say “I’m scared!” I’m scared of taking a risk on my dreams! I’m scared of my husband’s dreams! I’m scared to death!
You think this is childish? Livi, I’m trying to help us – get us free, really free – really. There’s a horrible gravity to this place. I’m afraid if we don’t get out soon...
I know, you think even if we go...the chances of us making it out there... are …. very small. And maybe you're right, but maybe... You know how in the old Roadrunner cartoons the Roadrunner would run right off a cliff and the coyote would chase him--
The roadrunner, he’d go "Beep, Beep" and fly clear across never looking down once. The coyote would run after him ... he'd run and run on nothing but air ... and only at the moment when he looked down, when he realized the impossibility of what he was doing...only then would he fall—but what if he never looked down...would he have made it?
Sure, it's only a cartoon, you're right about that. You keep telling me how we’re here in the "real world", "real people" who have to face the reality that the majority of restaurants fail, and the majority of actors are out of work—that's your truth- But, you’re also just looking down. You keep looking down.
You say “We’ve got vapors.” You say “We’ve got some elusive, ephemeral fantasy of a chance…” But you’re miserable here. Sorry … yes, you are useful here. You spend your days tending to the needs of the needy-- But what about your own needs?
Why would you say that? You think you’re not enough for me? You are everything to me. It’s all this … life in this stifling city slinging burgers at Steak’n Shake … that's not enough for me. I want us to be happy. And we can’t be happy here. We can’t stay.
Come on, Livi. Please. Let’s go.
This monologue is from the play Dreams in Captivity, available in print and digital editions.