12-year-old Josie attends a finishing-style stage school where she is firmly told she has no acting ability. Fortunately she finds herself cast by a boy in an American comedy - but mistaken for the star she is kidnapped and imprisoned in a dockside warehouse. Managing to escape, she and a fellow runaway take refuge in the Theatre Royal, Stratford. They are offered work by the legendary Joan Littlewood, founder of the Theatre Workshop Company. Much to Josie's surprise this leads to a role in a Saturday-morning film. However, the kidnappers haven't given up yeat and they are on Josie's trail.