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.

by Brandon Jarvis

Most of Virginia’s Democratic congressional delegation is making the case for Virginia to be one of the early primary states in the 2028 presidential race. According to the New York Times, the Democratic National Committee, which sets the primary schedule, has said that one state from each of four regions will hold nominating contests in the early window before Super Tuesday.

Virginia, which is vying for the southern region spot, sent a letter to DNC leaders signed by Democratic congressional leaders. Virginia Scope obtained the letter.

“We write jointly, as leaders on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia, to respectfully request that the Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee grant a waiver permitting Virginia to conduct its 2028 Presidential Primary within the early presidential nominating window established by the Committee,” the letter states.

Virginia historically has held presidential primary elections on Super Tuesday, along with many other states. If the commonwealth were given an earlier primary date, Virginia would receive significantly more attention from presidential candidates.

In making the case for an earlier primary, party leaders pointed to the state’s election infrastructure and track record.

“Virginia seeks inclusion in the early nominating process based on its demonstrated capacity to administer a rigorous, fair, and transparent presidential nominating contest and its consistent record of national leadership within the Democratic Party,” the letter continues. “The Commonwealth conducts elections through a professional, statewide system that is continuously active, uniform across jurisdictions, and capable of supporting a high-profile early contest in compliance with national party rules.”

The letter also referenced the Virginia Democratic Party’s diversity and how it is more reflective of the national party than competitors like South Carolina, which typically holds an early primary but is a conservative state.

“Virginia’s electorate reflects the breadth of the modern Democratic coalition and provides a meaningful test of presidential candidates’ ability to build durable support across diverse constituencies and regions,” the letter states. “Candidates competing in Virginia must demonstrate organizing capacity, coalition-building skill, and governing readiness across urban, suburban, and rural communities that closely resemble the national electorate Democrats must assemble to prevail in a general election.”

The letter is signed by U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Rep. Don Beyer, VA-08, Rep. Eugene Vindman, VA-07, Rep. Bobby Scott, VA-03, Rep. Jennifer McClellan, VA-04, and Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, VA-10.

The full 17-page Democratic proposal obtained by Virginia Scope goes in-depth to say that Virginia Democrats have taken the lead for the party by starting the redistricting process.

“Virginia Democrats have taken national leadership in the redistricting fight, not as an abstract debate about ‘process,’ but as a direct response to the threat of Trump-era politics and a clear-eyed effort to protect Democratic power, defend governing majorities, and build a durable national map,” the proposal states. “Virginia’s willingness to fight on redistricting reflects a broader truth: Virginia is not a passive participant in national politics. Virginia is an active force in defending and advancing Democratic governance.”

Other states that applied from the southern region are Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

According to the New York Times, party leaders will meet later this month to discuss the applications.

In her first major speech since her inauguration, Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger will address both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond on Monday.

VPM will be streaming the address, with coverage starting Monday at 3:47 p.m. EST. Watch it live in our video player above.

Spanberger made history Saturday when she was sworn in as the state’s first woman governor.

Spanberger, a former CIA officer who served three terms in the U.S. House, defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears by 15 points in November. Her victory was a boost for Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.