Side with the monster. Resent the villagers with the torches.
I Was A Teenage Bisexual: Polis Loizou’s Monster Mash Hits the Road | Features
I Was A Teenage Bisexual, the one-person horror show from Nottingham theatre-maker Polis Loizou, is back on the road this autumn. Ginger Nuts of Horror first wrote about the show in 2023. Since then an Arts Council England grant has paid for rewrites and a proper crew. The premise is pure B-movie: a schoolboy called Junior, a run of gruesome attacks and a mythical beast known as the Bisexual. It is camp, it is satire, and it treats the monster as the one worth rooting for.
Horror has never quite known what to do with bisexual characters. When they turn up at all, they tend to be predators or tricksters. Think of Catherine Deneuve’s ageless vampire in The Hunger, seducing men and women alike, or Jennifer’s Body, where desire between two girls ends in blood. The message underneath is an old one: someone who wants more than one thing cannot be trusted. The werewolf has always carried a similar charge. It is a creature with two natures, one it shows the village and one it hides. It changes in secret, it dreads being found out, and the people around it would rather reach for silver than understand.
Look at I Was a Teenage Werewolf in 1957, where the monster is a troubled schoolboy. Look at Teen Wolf, often read as a coming out story, or Ginger Snaps, where the change is tied to a teenage body that will not behave. The show’s title comes straight from that 1950s B-movie playbook, and Polis leans into the link, describing his bisexuals as “basically like werewolves”. It is a smart trick. He takes the old slur, the shapeshifter who cannot pick a side, and makes it the hero. If you read our essay on how bisexuality made one writer’s monsters, you will know the idea. Here is the show, and where it is heading.
I Was A Teenage Bisexual takes every lazy label thrown at bisexual people, confused, greedy, even imaginary, and turns it into folklore. Polis Loizou’s camp mash of vintage horror and teen flick asks you to side with the monster, and to resent the villagers holding the torches.
Award-winning* theatre-maker Polis Loizou is back on the road with I Was A Teenage Bisexual, a one-of-a-kind, one-person beast that will be stalking Nottingham, Sale and Wolverhampton after a week-long run in London this autumn. It will be making another appearance in the capital next summer.
A monster mashup of vintage horror and ‘90s/Noughties teen flicks, the show follows a schoolboy named Junior, whose community is rocked by gruesome attacks that may or may not be supernatural. Could it be the work of the mythical being known as the Bisexual? What with a toxic dad, attractive bullies and confusing desires to contend with, Junior feels the terror start to consume him. A blend of chills and satire ensues.
“Growing up bi is hard,” says Polis. “Not only do you struggle to fit into a heteronormative world, but you also have to fight prejudice from both the straight and gay communities.” Bisexuals are often regarded (and portrayed in the media) as confused, temporary, manipulative, greedy, or even totally imaginary. “I wanted to play with that,” Polis continues. “And turn bisexuals into something like a monster from a horror movie; a creature with its roots in folklore, and links to witchcraft… basically like werewolves.”
Vintage horror, ’90s teen flicks and a monster built from every lazy myth about bisexual people: Polis Loizou’s I Was A Teenage Bisexual starts from a brilliant premise, asking what happens when the Bisexual is the monster under the bed. It’s camp, it’s sharp, and it turns prejudice into folklore before handing the audience the torch. A horror show with something to say, and we can’t recommend it enough
Jim Mcleod GnoH
The camp blend of vintage horror and ‘90s teen flick allows the piece to exist in a heightened world in which Junior can fight his own demons — regarding sexuality, gender and body image against the expectations of an often intolerant, rigid and even downright cruel society. This is a show that asks you to empathise with the monster, and resent the torch-wielding villagers for not letting it live in peace.
I Was A Teenage Bisexual began life as a very literal one-man show, with Polis as the only cast and crew. Thanks to an Arts Council England project grant, it is now being developed for a small autumn tour with rewrites and a sizable crew, whose assembled queer creatives (and allies) are helping it morph into the creature it was always destined to be. Find out more at polisloizou.com/iwatb.
* Best Actor, You Oughta Be In Pictures (Buxton Fringe, 2026) – also nominated for Best Production and Best New Writing; Best New Writing, Mr Fox (Buxton Fringe, 2022) – also nominated for Best Actor and Best Production.
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About Ginger Nuts of Horror
Ginger Nuts of Horror is an independent horror review and culture site based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Edited by British Fantasy Award nominee Jim McLeod, it publishes horror book reviews, film reviews, author interviews, features and cover reveals. Ginger Nuts of Horror won Best Inclusive Film & Book Review Platform at the SME News UK Enterprise Awards 2026.
