Michelle Pearson combines personal storytelling and belting tunes in this confessional cabaret, which takes a frank and unflinching look at the way body shaming can destroy a person’s confidence and poison their day-to-day life. 

Pearson, who until the age of six blissfully idolised Miss Piggy while other girls wanted to be princesses, remembers the first time she became aware that her body was different to those of her family and friends. Thus began a journey of trying to assimilate through diets, manifestations and eventually surgery, for which Pearson is still suffering the long-term after-effects. 

All of this is revealed through Pearson’s charming, intimate and candid narrative, which she weaves through the show, in between well-known pop and rock songs repurposed with lyrics that reflect her experiences. These musical numbers, however, are Skinny’s weak link. That’s not to say they aren’t well performed. Pearson is a majestic and versatile singer, her four-piece band are fantastic and she switches brilliantly between empowered diva and vulnerable narrator.

But the rewritten lyrics veer between on-the-nose (listing Ozempic side effects to ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’) and crowbarred-in (Spice Girls’ ‘2 Become 1’ interrupts a vividly described sex scene), and it doesn’t feel as if they add anything to the storytelling. More powerful and poignant are the video interviews Pearson has conducted with various people who have suffered from fatphobic prejudice. It’s an original concept for a show, which could have soared with a different score. 

Skinny, Underbelly Bristo Square, until 10 August, 6.50pm.