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Mama Does Derby review – Virginia Gay’s Town Hall takeover is ambitious, entertaining and irresistibly warm
Sydney’s Town Hall has transformed into a tennis court and a beach for recent iterations of the Sydney festival; this year, it’s a roller derby rink, with a moving set and music stage, and a live band belting covers.
Inside the ornate Victorian interior of Centennial Hall, an oval flat track has been installed; on either side are stadium-style seating banks. This is the set for Mama Does Derby, the new family dramedy from Adelaide’s Windmill Production Company, premiering in Sydney ahead of Adelaide festival.
There’s something thrilling about seeing art in unusual spaces, and about seeing familiar places rendered strange and wonderful through art. This has become the bread and butter for city festivals over the past decade, offering the thrill of the catch-it-while-you-can live communal experience as a counterpoint to our increasingly isolated lives.
As the audience fills the seating banks on opening night, a flock of skaters drawn from the Sydney Roller Derby League are already in flight, running drills and relaxed loops around the track. By the time the show’s lead actors appear, even a roller derby novice has got a sense of the sport.
We’ll have to wait a while longer to find out how roller derby fits into this tale. First, we meet our protagonists: mum Maxine, or Max (consummate comic actor Amber McMahon); and teen daughter Billie (Elvy-Lee Quici). They’re here to usher us into their story: a globetrotting, fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants, hot-mess single woman and her earnest, anxious, responsible-beyond-her-years daughter, who unexpectedly inherit a rundown house in regional Victoria, and are forced to a standstill in which their demons and dysfunctions catch up with them.
Over the next 90-or-so minutes, we get to know and love Max and Billie and their droll, Gilmore Girls-esque comedy-duo energy, and watch as they build a new life and community: Billie with school and driving lessons, Max with a new hobby – roller derby. There’s an eccentric neighbour, a fastidious counsellor-cum-family therapist, cute love interests for both Max and Billie, and a fabulous spandex-clad demon called Nathan (Benjamin Hancock, take an extra bendy bow please), who threatens to steal every scene he’s in. The entire cast is fantastic, and even these smaller parts are living, lovable characters rather than mere narrative chess pieces.
Mama Does Derby is inspired by director Clare Watson’s real life experience. She entrusted the scripting to friend and former collaborator Virginia Gay – and you couldn’t pick a better theatre-maker for the job. As the writer and lead of shows such as Calamity Jane and Cyrano, Gay has proven herself a virtuoso in a kind of generous, communal, fourth wall-breaking theatrical style that brings people in, and a special-sauce narrative mix of relatable comedy and vulnerability. Gay makes shows that are like a big hug, full of heart and community.
It’s what we all need right now – and this show knows it. It might be a mother-daughter tale, but Billie is the heart of it: beset by the anxiety of living in an erratic co-dependent relationship within a politically and socially unstable world on the brink of climate catastrophe, in which gender-based violence is on the rise – and, as she reminds us, there are literal Nazis on our streets. “I think being a grown up means dissociating,” Max quips early on. Billie is still a teen though, and the show is really about her facing her fears, finding her strength and stepping up to advocate for her needs.
Gay navigates this with a typically light touch, and she and Watson keep things – for the most part – clipping along, with witty banter and playful pop cultural references, moving stage pieces, and fast-flowing transitions between scenes and music breaks. Skaters thread in and out, serving as stage hands when they’re not playing themselves, holding props or pushing larger pieces of stage furniture – therapy couches, a makeshift car – around the track.
As with most new Australian work, there are some lags in momentum and some repetition. It feels like 15 minutes could be shaved out of the script with no noticeable deficit; the music breaks are too frequent and long, and the skating sequences are frustratingly slow at times. For a roller derby show, it takes a little too long for that part of the narrative to arrive.
But these are small quibbles for this ambitious, entertaining and irresistibly warm show, that speaks not only to parents and teens, but to the broader community; the village it takes to raise young people and sustain the rest of us.
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (WSET) — Extreme drought conditions in parts of Virginia have prompted an emergency drought warning for a wide swath of the region, including Bedford, Campbell, Charlotte, Franklin, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Patrick, Pittsylvania and Roanoke counties, along with the cities of Danville, Roanoke, Salem and Martinsville.
The governor has warned that if conditions worsen, she will activate mandatory nonessential water-use restrictions.
In Martinsville, city leaders have issued a voluntary water conservation notice and are urging residents and businesses to cut back where they can. The request comes as local businesses that rely heavily on water say the drought is already affecting day-to-day operations.
SEE ALSO: Botetourt County residents adjust daily routines as voluntary water restriction continues
John Hughes, owner of John’s Car Wash, said the dry conditions have hit his business hard in recent weeks. “For the last 3 weeks, it’s been hitting pretty hard. We done three yesterday and haven’t done anything today with the drought and hot weather. Yeah, I’m really concerned about it,” Hughes said.
Restaurants are also feeling the strain. David Kitzmiller, an owner of Be Wiched, said water is essential for routine tasks such as washing dishes and preparing some menu items.
“We use a lot of water for washing dishes and some of our recipes if they limit us in anyway defiently can’t produce and its a scary aspect,” Kitzmiller said.
Kitzmiller added that cutting back is not always realistic for businesses that must meet sanitation needs. “Not really feasible for a business that depends solely relies on water to wash their dishes, so that can’t definitely be an impact there,” he said.
City leaders emphasized that the conservation request is voluntary for now, but they are encouraging everyone to do their part by taking shorter showers, turning off the faucet when it is not in use, washing only full loads of laundry, and limiting outdoor watering whenever possible.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Five people were charged after Virginia Beach Police conducted a two-day human trafficking and vice operation on July 3, according to the Virginia Beach Police Department.
The department’s Special Investigations Bureau conducted the operation, which was aimed at identifiying human trafficking victims, reducing the demand for commercial sex and targeting individuals seeking to exploit or recruit children for prostitution.
Detectives used many investigative techniques to proactively identify individuals involved in criminal activity related to prostitution, human trafficking and offenses against children. The operation was conducted in Virginia Beach, involving personnel from all of the bureau’s squads.
As a result of the operation, five people were identified and charged with offenses ranging from solicitation of prostitution to sex trafficking and crimes involving minors. Two vehicles and U.S. currency were seized during the operation. Other people were connected to victim services through Samaritan House.
The operation led to the following people being charged:
- Shane Carter, 28, of Norfolk, was charged with solicitation of prostitution.
- Robert Harris, 64, of Virginia Beach, was charged with solicitation of prostitution and assault and battery.
- Larry Pittman, 53, of Portsmouth, was charged with sex trafficking and use of electronic devices to facilitaate certain offenses involving minors.
- Kenric Frazier, 46, of Portsmouth, was charged with sex trafficking, use of electronic devices to facilitate certain offenses involving minors and solicitation of child pornography.
- Cameron Lewis, 24, of Norfolk, was charged with solicitation of prostitution.
Investigators also developed leads about people who are suspected of trafficking and exploiting others for commercial sex. Those are now active and ongoing investigations. There may be more charges and arrests pending further investigation and consultation with the Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
If you’re a human trafficking victim or know someone who is, you can report it to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Helen Dragas, CEO of Dragas Companies, said she does not feel her company had an “unfair advantage” in pursing a deal to buy Virginia Beach National Golf Club.
Rather, Dragas said her team took the initiative to put forward the “the “best competitive proposal we could.”
Next month, Virginia Beach City Council could vote to sell the 270-acre 18-hole course to Dragas, who along with Texas-based Century Golf, would redesign and refurbish the course. Dragas would then build nearly 660 housing units on the southern end of the property, and build a new childcare center.
Dragas’ proposal, titled “Princess Anne Landing,” was one of nine total groups who responded to the city’s request for proposals regarding of the future of the course.
Still, many on both social media and in public comments have accused the longtime housing developer of having the upper hand, given that she had the city sign a non-disclosure agreement in 2024, more than a year before the city’s intentions of possibly selling the course became public.
As part of an interview Tuesday with 10 On Your Side, Dragas was asked about those accusations and other questions. Responses are edited for style and brevity purposes.
REPORTER: You’ve heard some of the criticisms … sitting through the public hearings. … How do you take it when people say that you got an unfair advantage?
DRAGAS: I say that we invested thousands of hours of hard work and due diligence watching public hearings, media council meetings, digging into those engineering studies that I referenced before that showed the deficiencies, … understanding the comprehensive plan, the Historic Overlay District, the ITA situation, all that. There’s a lot of complexity there and we invested a lot of time and energy to develop the best competitive proposal we could. We never knew we would see it, and we still don’t know if we’ll see a single cent of that investment back. And that’s competition and that’s initiative, and we live in a country that’s always rewarded initiative. And we took it. And while others might have been spending their time on other projects or other endeavors, this is what we were doing. So we didn’t receive any nonpublic information. We just did our homework and I think we tried to solve a lot of problems in one proposal: housing, homeownership, childcare, golf course, you know, redesign and refresh and reinvestment and a future tax stream for the course. So we think we come up with something that provides benefit, not just at offers, but to a lot of other constituents in the city as well. We’re really proud of it.
REPORTER: You were telling me that … long before even the auditors report, you had your eye on that that parcel and thought it would be good for houses. Correct?
DRAGAS: Well, we always knew that there was that section that … could handle some housing, yes. And others did as well. There were other rentals. There was another unsolicited proposal or two. And then I think about half of the respondents to the proposal included housing.
Under the terms that have been negotiated between City Council and economic development staff for months in closed session, Dragas would purchase the roughly 270 acre course for $17.9 million from the city. The city will, in turn, give the $17.9 million back to Dragas, along with $1.8 million from the Virginia Beach Development Authority, to go towards an estimated $38 million golf course redevelopment.
On top of the nearly $20 million the city would give the development team for the golf course work, the city could contribute up to nearly $8 million in public infrastructure along Tournament Drive and Princess Anne Road, to include turn lanes, streetscape improvements, utility relocations, and a sewer extension.
REPORTER: Why does it need to be a public-private partnership?
DRAGAS: So right now the city has millions of dollars in deferred renovation — $7.7 million in identified stormwater deficiencies and remaining clubhouse and facilities repair. That doesn’t cover anything about renovating a 30-year-old course. And … everything needs a renovation, refurbishment at some point in its life, physical life. And so, this course needs that. There’s also public infrastructure that serves the entire area right there. So there’s some Virginia Beach Development Authority parcels that sit there and the first tee … as you probably know, is that land is going to be dedicated to the First Tee. There’s sanitary sanitary sewer infrastructure that serves all those parcels that was originally connected to be temporary, and that was almost 30 years ago. So the city has, I think, some deferred public infrastructure costs as well. What our proposal does is take the city off the hook for future maintenance liabilities. They’re actually going to come out of pocket less than they would if they just did the stormwater and the clubhouse repairs that were made, and in exchange, the city will have a $3.4 million a year tax revenue stream, a completely refreshed and refreshed renovated golf course, a badly needed child care facility and then, of course, the homes, homeownership opportunities for over 600 families.
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