Review: Jonny Hawkins’ TRUCK DRIVER — An Honest and Humbling Insight into Australian Truckies

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TRUCK DRIVER

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Wednesday 17th June 2026, 7:30pm, The Studio, Sydney Opera House

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Jonny Hawkins (writer and performer) and Nell Ranney’s (director) TRUCK DRIVER is an incredible new Australian work that centres on the men that keep Australia moving, the owner-drivers of freight trucks. The second of Hawkins’ solo show creations, following MAUREEN: HARBINGER OF DEATH, this is another work that showcases their ability to present stories not often told on stage with respect and insight that enlightens and engages the audience to reconsider their perceptions of people they may not normally have associated with.

Entering into a ‘world’ that, based on their personal description of themselves as a “gay kid from the Central Coast”, may have been relatively foreign to them, Jonny Hawkins immersed themselves into researching the characters that went into the creation of “Bev” with an incredible level of commitment. Bev is a fourth-generation outback owner-driver trucker, and the audience is their hitch-hiker passenger for a run up to Alice Springs. Over the course of the drive Bev shares stories, observations and philosophies with their passenger, along with the odd snack, so that by the time they’ve reached their destination, the audience has a different appreciation of the men that live their lives transporting goods of all sorts around this vast continent.

Ensuring that Bev is seen as ‘larger that life’, as many of the personalities that went into their creation no doubt are, set and Costume Designer Isabel Hudson has positioned a scaled version of a big-rig truck on a bare black stage. While Bev dwarfs the cab of the vehicle, think ride-on-lawnmower ratios, the container load they are transporting is large enough to provide significant vertical variety to the performance when Bev climbs on top and reinforce the significance of the loads that are transported. Hudson outfits Bev in football shorts and workboots with a range of tops and accessories that help convey the passage of time and that the journey takes him through different climates, from the hot dusty days to the cold desert nights. While the truck has levers that move and it looks like it may have been engineered to move, the vehicle remains stationary throughout, so it is Nick Schlieper ’s lighting and Steve Toulmin ’s sound design that provides the expression of movement. An illuminated bar spans the rear of the stage, allowing for the movement and acceleration of the vehicle to be expressed while bold colours are used to reflect the changing sky without trying to recreate the views that Bev enjoys, leaving that to the Hawkins words and the audience’s imagination. Toulmin has composed a soundscape that pairs heavy music with rhythmic beats to express movement while subtler mechanical rumbling sits as an undertone through Bev’s stories. An energetic score underpins a night drive in which Hawkins’ gets to express his other creative side as a host of dance parties as a DJ.

In creating a character based off the 30 or so owner-drivers that Hawkins interviewed to create TRUCK DRIVER, they present an individual that goes beyond the stereotype. Hawkins’ Bev has complexity and they ensure that Bev is always presented with an honesty and respect. While some of Bev’s opinions and experiences are relatable for the Sydney Opera House audience, there are times when their opinions are at odds with the average theatre goer but Hawkins uses this to pose an alternative view without judgment, encouraging the audience to reconsider their views of people they would not normally socialise with and the viewpoints they bring to the table. While there is a liberal dose of humour throughout the work, Hawkins has included weightier stories, all presented with sensitivity and recognition that despite their often gruff image, the drivers are still human with compassion and care of the people around them.

TRUCK DRIVER is a captivating expression of a group of people that many people would probably never get to know in person but the way Jonny Hawkins has presented Bev encourages audiences to reshape their opinions and reconsider any preconceptions they may have had. This is a brilliant piece of New Australian theatre and while it only has a short Sydney Opera House season hopefully this is given an encore season and a national tour as everyone should experience this brilliant performance.

Truck Driver | Sydney Opera House

Photos: Daniel Boud

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/sydney/article/REVIEW-Jonny-Hawkins-Latest-Solo-Performance-TRUCK-DRIVER-Is-An-Honest-Humorous-and-Humbling-Insight-Into-Australians-Not-Usually-Seen-On-Stage-20260618)._