Polis Loizou

I love getting in front of an audience to tell folktales from around the world. Though I can deliver a wide range of moods and styles, I do have a preference for the darker stories…

I have performed at festivals, in bookshops and even in a tower. While I can tell a yarn with nothing but myself on stage, I’ve also collaborated with experimental sound artists for evenings of multisensory fun.

I have also given talks to schoolchildren on folklore and storytelling.

Bloomsbury Festival:

The Old Black Door

Join storyteller Laura Sampson, accompanying sound artist Sam Enthoven and special guests for a selection of grown-up folk and fairytales on the theme of mortality.

15th October, 2pm
RADA Studios
16 Chenies Street, London WC1E 7EX

In 2020 I was commissioned to write a biographical storytelling show as part of Inn Crowd – a great initiative to tour pieces to rural pub venues. The pandemic delayed this a bit, but my piece is now available for booking.

Polis Loizou’s Love Island

Life feels a bit like a movie when you grow up on The Island of Love. Especially when there is a vendetta being waged around you, brides are kidnapped from their homes under cover of night, and you find you have suspiciously famous ancestors. This is the Cyprus of Polis Loizou’s childhood, and he weaves it into an hour of funny, surprising, and unforgettable storytelling.

Past Performances

31st March, The Art Bank, Shepton Mallet
1st April, The Black Swan, Langport
28th May, The White Lion, Selling
18th June, First Light Festival, Lowestoft

The brilliant Jaacq Hugo and I co-founded this award-winning theatre company, for which I’ve written, directed and produced several shows.

We first hit the Buxton Fringe in 2009, became a trio with the fabulous Laura Louise Baker in 2010, and have had a string of successful pieces across the UK since. Peaceful has seen a number of sold-out performances, while Back Door picked up two awards.

More recently, I’ve performed two one-man shows incorporating my love of folklore storytelling: A Curse of Saints and Mr Fox.

WINNER: Best New Writing (Buxton Fringe 2021)

Be bold, be bold
But not too bold
Lest that your heart’s blood should run cold

From the award-winning Fringe favourites that brought you the chilling hits Peaceful and A Curse of Saints comes Mr Fox, Polis Loizou’s one-man take on the gleefully wicked old folktale.

It’s the tale of Lady Mary, a sharp, beautiful and almost shockingly wealthy young woman, who discovers that her fiancé, the dashing and mysterious Mr Fox, harbours a deadly secret…

“Expertly told […] deliciously dark”

Buxton Fringe review of Mr Fox

★★★★
“Enthralling storytelling.”

Fringe Guru on A Curse of Saints

“Thrillingly tense and well acted”

British Theatre Guide on Peaceful