DONNA is a 14-year-old, clumsy, bespectacled fat lass. She’s the victim of bullying by her school mates and her mum. Even her beloved nana, who makes great teas, isn’t really very helpful.

In an incredible solo performance, directed by Laura Lindow, Paula Penman finds a quirky charm and naive wit that no one else can see and makes the audience love her from the very beginning.

She’s excited about a new school project – to source a stranger’s story and present her findings at the annual Christmas pageant.

Donna’s world is very small, inhabited by home-made characters. A couple of stripey socks represent her selfish mother and feckless grandmother. Her late father, Herbert, is a long thin tube of material with a face and glasses.

She keeps two small toy rats in her pencil case to represent the two worst bullies in her class and she animates them when the bullying gets too much.

Donna decides to invite Stuart, the cross-dressing butcher from the shop downstairs, as her stranger guest at the pageant. She’s fascinated by his alter-ego Caroline, and the amazing whoosh of a beautiful gown that he wears one day every week.

Lee Mattinson’s beautifully observed script refuses to let Donna feel sorry for herself and out of a tale of tenderness and tragic neglect we find a girl with a disco that plays in her heart. An extraordinary girl who, when pricked, bleeds just like the rest of us.