Maia Novi (Maia) and Harrison Osterfield (Performer 3) in Invasive Species at King's Head Theatre - credit Danny Kaan.Argentinian-born actress Maia Novi’s semi-autobiographical play, details her experiences growing-up and yearning to be a part of the Hollywood dream having been dazzled by the production values inherent in big budget Marvel Comic movies like Spiderman which were in notable contrast to Argentina’s home grown efforts.
Training to be an actor in New York City (after less successful experiences in Paris and London), she eventually succumbs to the intense pressures in the run up to graduation and consequently experiences frequent bouts of insomnia. In a bid to tackle the problem, she takes herself to hospital in search of medication, but due to being observed talking to herself (which she explains was part of her study exercises) she finds herself incarcerated overnight. In fact her admission to the youth ward of a psychiatric facility in 2021, lasted 19 days, during which time she kept the diary which has formed the basis for much of the play.
For the purposes of the piece she is joined on stage by four performers who play inmates, wardens and other multitudinous characters. They are Kalifa Taylor, Harrison Osterfield, Max Percy and Ella Blackburn. Between them they add weight and heft to an otherwise flimsy and self-indulgent story which never manages to rise above the cliché and obvious which is a surprise, given the amount of attention and notoriety the piece has garnered. Without doubt there is talent on display in terms of the performers, but the thinly-sketched narrative rarely veers from self-indulgent and pastiche. Every moment from “One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest”, “People, Places and Things”, and “Next To Normal” seems to have found a comparable outlet in this boisterously executed piece which throughout, lacks subtlety and bludgeons the audience with mental health stereotypes and juvenile references, in a bid to earn favour and a youthful following. Perhaps New York audiences are more susceptible to such clunky claptrap, but for this reviewer, there was little more presented, than a collection of talented performers playing second fiddle to a self-indulgent diva who seems to believe that this segment of her broader story is worthy of a play. She is mistaken, and it is extraordinary that no-one has previously advised those who have fallen under her spell, that they are observing the King’s new clothes. There is nothing here to write home (or anywhere else), about.
