Polis Loizou reckons You Oughta Be In Pictures
After the success of our 2025 Camden Fringe Interview series, we thought it only right to attempt a repeat for 2026. So throughout July we’ll be publishing new interviews each day to give a taste of what to expect from London’s best fringe theatre festival. The festival starts Monday 3 August this year, so we may give ourselves a couple of days off inbetween the end of the interviews and the first shows… then again, we might not.
You can find out more about Camden Fringe, along with details of every show playing this August here. You can also find all of this year’s interviews as they are published here.
What happens when you mix old-school cinematic nostalgia with a deeply unsettling exploration of power? You get You Oughta Be In Pictures, a sharp, one-man character study heading to the Rosemary Branch Theatre for Camden Fringe 2026. Written and performed by Polis Loizou, the production uses a 1940s Hollywood backdrop to pull back the curtain on media manipulation, the exploitation of artists, and the cyclical nature of abusive, powerful men.
We caught up with Polis to talk about the impromptu horror festival performance that sparked the idea, the tightrope walk of playing a layered villain, and why his grandma remains completely unfazed by his dark storytelling.
If you had to describe the vibe of your show in just one sentence, what would it be and how does it manifest on stage?
Dangerous and moody, manifesting as me being a creep for an hour in a dark room.
Why is 2026 the perfect time for this show to be seen?
Although it’s set in the ‘40s, the show is about media manipulation, the exploitation of artists, and abusive powerful men, so it’s basically about today. Plus it’s queer rep and we need as much of that as we can get, problematic characters and all.
What was the ‘eureka moment’ that made you realise this story had to be told right now?
I actually came up with it one evening when I did an impromptu added performance of a previous show at the Edinburgh Horror Festival. It was a different space to my usual, but I fell in love with the old-school home-cinema vibe of the place and thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to do a show set in a place like this?’
What is it about your character that you most enjoy, and how challenging has the role been?
He’s awful but layered. You don’t know how much of him is real and how much is pretence—not even I do, and I wrote him.
It’s challenging physically and vocally in the control it takes to deliver it effectively. Plus the accent and voice are so particular, which stresses me out. But I absolutely love doing it.
Being a fringe festival, we all know sets have to be bare minimum. How have you got around this with your set and props?
My set is a table from each venue plus a foldable and easily transportable director’s chair, which I already owned. My one prop is a fake whiskey tumbler. It helped that I wanted to highlight the theatricality and falseness of entertainment. I want audiences to use their imaginations.
How important is audience interaction to you?
Creeping people out, but hoping they’ll love me for it.
What does “success” look like for you this August, beyond just selling tickets?
It would also be amazing to get bookings, or an agent.
Who would play you in the Hollywood adaptation of your future autobiography?
Hank Azaria.
If your show had a soundtrack, what songs would definitely be on it?
Gotta have ‘You Oughta Be In Pictures’, and maybe ‘It’s Only A Paper Moon’.
Can you share a “fake” review of the show from someone close to you?
“Not as disturbing as my bedtime stories” – Grandma.
Our thanks to Polis for finding time to chat to us about the show. You can catch You Oughta Be In Pictures when it plays at Rosemary Branch Theatre as part of this year’s Camden Fringe for one night only on Wednesday 5 August.
