A mother waits. Ambition hums beneath the surface.

From the multi-award-winning team behind Grounded and That Boy, this bold three-act drama stars Martha Lott opposite her real-life daughter Amelia Lott-Watson, a rare opportunity to watch a mother and daughter play mother and daughter.

The premise is timely in the aftermath of our social media ban: a teenage debate prodigy on the brink of national selection. A rival. A political operative mother who knows exactly how to weaponise words.

Directed by Holden Street Theatres’ new artistic director Nick Fagan, The Debate is an excavation of elite privilege and parents living vicariously and viciously through their children. Social media becomes an accelerant, taking age-old prejudices and amplifying them at scale.

Lott relishes the role of foul-mouthed villain: a campaign strategist only a mother could love. Amelia Lott-Watson charts an emotional descent so convincing that her character’s pain lingers even as she bows.

When every story can be spun, what chance does truth have?