After two weeks in residence at Bundanon, Nell Ranney and Jonny Hawkins invite the public to experience a work-in-progress live play reading of Riding Shotgun, their latest work and a companion piece to their hit show, Maureen: Harbinger of Death.
Darryl is a truck driver. Been driving for years. He knows the road better than he knows himself. But Australia is changing faster than Darryl can shift gears and he’s struggling to keep up. Where once he felt like the king of the road, he now feels like a slave to the load. His cargo is precious, it is both his purpose and his burden. The small joys which make a life content are being eroded by the modern world and Darryl has a thing or two to say. But will anybody listen?
Riding Shotgun looks at the unobserved life of a highway philosopher at odds with the changing world. It will examine the loneliness of masculinity, the plight of the working class and the unfortunate repercussions of living in an echo chamber.
Set behind the steering column of an 18-wheeler and floating through a kaleidoscope of Australian landscapes, the audience is invited to ride shotgun with Darryl. His point of view might be shocking to some, but if we can resist outrage and let him speak, we might find a human with some ideas worth pondering.
Presented in partnership with Soft Tread.
Jonny Hawkins
Writer, Performer and Co-Creator
Jonny Hawkins is an actor, writer and DJ. They studied Acting at WAAPA, where they won the Burton Award for outstanding Shakespearian Performance, and they have subsequently won awards including the Sydney Theatre Best Newcomer Award. Their appearances across film and TV include Mr Inbetween, Stan’s The Other Guy, Les Norton and the award-winning RIOT for the ABC, Celeste Barber’s Wellmania for Netflix and the mini-series Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door. As a writer, Jonny’s work has been supported with funding and residencies from Brand X, Create NSW, SBS, The Ethics Centre (NSW), the Bundanon Foundation and Spain’s Fundación Valparaiso. Their short film Joy Boy won Best Film at Melbourne’s Queer Film Festival and Best Screenplay at Vivid’s Fresh Flix.
Jonny’s first full-length play, Maureen: Harbinger of Death premiered at the 2021 Sydney Festival and went on to play at the internationals around the world including Adelaide Festival, Rising, Darwin Festival, New Zealand’s Wãnaka Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe.
Jonny is also one of Sydney’s best loved DJs and founder of The Dollar Bin Darlings, preaching disco and love all over Australia.
Nell Ranney
Director and Co-Creator
Nell Ranney is a director and producer of original and multi-disciplinary theatre work. Her credits include director and co-creator of Maureen: Harbinger of Death, the Sydney premiere of TUESDAY by Louris van de Geer (Belvoir) and She Rode Horses Like the Stock Exchange by Amelia Roper (KXT), and she is currently leading creative development of GRLZ by Victoria Haralabidou (supported by Creative Australia). Nell was Associate Director for Debra Oswald’s solo performance Is There Something Wrong With That Lady? (Griffin Theatre), and in 2018 she was appointed the Baylis Assistant Director at the Old Vic in London for SYLVIA (Old Vic/ ZooNation) by Kate Prince. Her previous roles in artistic programming include Program Manager of The Garden of Unearthly Delights from 2018-2020 and Artistic Associate of Belvoir from 2016-2017.
