Edinburgh Fringe 2025

There’s Something Seriously Wrong with Cyrus

Soaring Solo Studios and Fringe Management, LLC

Genre: LGBT Theatre, Solo Show, Theatre

Venue: The Penny at Gilded Balloon Patter House

Festival: Edinburgh Fringe

Low Down

Review

This very sweet solo show sees gay actor Cyrus Deboo telling us his life story and his coming out story through cheery monologues, family photos and videos and occasional music clips, mostly from gay divas. He grew up in Seattle with immigrant parents, his father from India and his mother from Iran. They know nothing of the gay world and, as he gradually realises he is gay, he hides his sexuality from everyone. As happens in most coming out stories, especially in families where parents are from cultures where being gay is something far more shameful or misunderstood than in developed countries (my coming out story included) there are differing levels of hostility and time taken for parents to come to terms with their child’s non-heterosexuality, if they ever do. So Deboo’s story is a familiar one but not an extreme one, with expected and predictable reactions from younger and older friends and family as he comes out. There are exceptions, like an elderly family friend who is a wise counsel to Cyrus at many key moments in his development, professionally and personally, and a moving relationship is portrayed between Cyrus and her.

We are taken through a chronological series of major life milestones, involving family, romance and career and Deboo is a capable and endearing performer. He charms us and we like him from the outset. The subtitle of the show says he’ll tell us how he went from being a hot mess to a hot bitch, which suggests raunchy goings on and sexual content, but there is no raunch.  I overheard one audience member, a young guy in what looked like a straight couple, as they left the show saying to his girlfriend “well …. it was very sweet.” Yup. As charming as the show is, it is all rather tame, and delivered with a sugary sweetness throughout. I’m not sure why director Jessica Lynn Johnson did not introduce some variety into the telling of this story. I am sure Deboo is capable of a wider palette of emotions, paces and authentic dramatic registers than we got, which throughout was a smiley, over-friendly delivery, which felt like a school show-and-tell report about “how I came out”.

There is a growing body of solo shows at many Fringe festivals where LGBTQ+ people basically tell us their life and coming out stories. This show would be a great introduction to and education about accepting homosexuality, for audiences who are new to understanding queer lives, but for a sophisticated Fringe like Edinburgh, we need stories with far more grit and truthful, surprising, arresting emotional journeys. There are a few times in the show where touching, vulnerable and moving moments surface (when some people in Cyrus’s life accept him, or when he loses others) and these were impressive moments of emotional truth we could have done with more of. Nonetheless a charming and entertaining hour of theatre.

Published August 17, 2025August 17, 2025 by Turan Ali