One can barely finish one's stage act (8)
I believe the answer is:
stripper
'one' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.
'barely finish one's stage act' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'act' could be 'strip' (strip is a kind of act) and 'strip' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'per' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'can' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stripper that I've seen before include "Teasing dancer" , "One barely entertains" , "she reveals" , "exotic entertainer" , "Progressively barer performer" .)