Anna Sharpe-Jones’ debut show (not just at the Fringe, but anywhere) is the kind of strange and bewildering hour of theatrical foolery that you are likely to find if you trespass into the Edinburgh Festival’s more forgotten corners. To start performing at all is daunting enough, but do it it with a show as abstract and peculiar as The Hat of Many Hats is a real challenge. The audience isn’t always sure whether to laugh or call for help, but Share-Jones’ performance debut is still something to be proud of. 

‘I tend to overact,’ says Sharpe-Jones, several times throughout a show where she is at the mercy of an orange woollen hat. Whenever the hat forces its way onto her head, she takes on a myriad of characters and personas. Some of them are funny, others tragic and perplexing, but all of them are brought to life by Share-Jones courtesy of her exemplary movement and use of space. The Hat of Many Hats retains an absurd, amusing edge that the best clowning needs to succeed. 

Sharp-Jones’ show is highly eccentric and at times it is easy to get lost amidst all the vignettes and characters. Whenever it slips too far away from the audience’s understanding it can be difficult to work out exactly what you are looking at. At its strongest though, The Hat of Many Hats proves to be an equally silly and sombre look at some of the big questions. Sharpe-Jones uses her array of characters to explore and expose the competing desires of wanting to be seen and wanting to hide away, to occasionally mystifying but consistently fascinating effect. 

‘What kind of fool am I?’ asks Sharpe-Jones at one point in the show. The answer, it seems, is a good one. The bigger fool would be whoever refuses to give The Hat of Many Hats a chance if you seek something a bit more experimental and strange this Fringe. It doesn’t have the pull of more accomplished acts, but as a debut performance it really is a splendid little slice of weird. 

The Hat of Many Hats is at PBH’s Free Fringe @Carbon – Room 1 until Sun 25 Aug 2024 (except Wed 14 & Tue 20) at 15:00