In her final year at Yale Drama School, actress Maia Novi experienced something stranger than fiction. With pressure mounting and insomnia worsening in the leadup to her industry showcase, Novi took herself to hospital and was given medication to help her sleep, only to wake up several hours later in the children’s ward of a psychiatric facility where she was confined for 19 days. Years later, Novi has turned this extraordinary story into a critically acclaimed play that enjoyed huge success in New York before coming to King’s Head Theatre in London.
The play opens in a movie theatre in Novi’s native Argentina, where, during a screening of The Amazing Spiderman, she is inspired to become an actress in the ‘American movies’. Framed by a glaring spotlight, Novi gazes longingly at an imaginary screen as an ensemble member extends an arm between her legs, holding a box of popcorn. The audience laughs and the tone of Invasive Species is set: a deft interplay between unhinged hilarity and profound pathos. Director Michael Preslin and writer-performer Maia Novi have created a finely-tuned fever dream that tackles complex themes of immigration, identity politics and mental health with a wry smile and devilish wit.
Descending a staircase lit by red LEDs, echoes of ‘Genie in a Bottle’ by Christina Aguilera are heard as the audience crowds into King’s Head Theatre, the stage sparsely populated by five chairs and four flickering fluorescent light panels. The brilliant preset playlist lays the groundwork for Maxwell Neely-Cohen and Jessie Char’s exquisite sound design (developed by Dominic Brennan for the UK run) which pulses with adrenaline and drives the breakneck momentum of the production. Austere and dynamic lighting by Yichen Zhou (developed by Ben Jacobs for the UK run) transitions starkly between hard-edge spots, blackouts and harsh, full-stage washes, effortlessly supporting the production’s rapid tonal shifts and scene changes.
Four ensemble members circle Novi like a many-headed hydra, performing an astonishing array of characters with dexterity and range. Movement sequences follow character comedy moments with unrelenting pace as Novi’s character encounters a revolving door of industry figures, hospital staff, former dates and a monstrously charming “acting bug” performed to sinister perfection by Harrison Osterfield. Movement direction from Beth Gill sees the ensemble shift seamlessly from individual characters to scene-supporting chorus, filling the stage with beautiful, surprising and unsettling physical images. Amid the heightened chaos, moments of quiet dialogue between Novi and Kalifa Taylor as Akila, a teenage girl who has been admitted to the psychiatric facility several times, serve as emotional anchors which ground the narrative in heartfelt realism.
The brilliant decision to have two actors playing each of Novi’s parents, one speaking Spanish and the other English in a clownlike double act, render the act of translation vibrant and deeply entertaining. In these moments, the physical tussle between the Hispanophone speaker (Max Percy) and Anglophone translator (Ella Blackburn) draws out the difficulties inherent in communicating across linguistic and cultural differences. Things always get lost in translation, and this is never more palpable than when Novi’s character arrives at hospital and switches into Spanish because the rigidity of English won’t allow her to communicate her struggles adequately. Finishing her breathless explanation with “¿Entiendes?” [“Do you understand?”] the doctor replies “No” in English, driving through to the dark layers of wilful misunderstanding directed towards Novi’s character throughout the play.
Novi and Breslin pull no punches in this full-throttle production that hits the ground sprinting and refuses to let up over 75 breathless minutes. It’s theatre that takes risks, gets messy, and dives into deeply vulnerable territory. Yet Invasive Species is executed with such slick assuredness that the packed audience was on its feet for a thundering standing ovation as the lights came down. Darkly comic and deeply serious, Invasive Species is new theatre at its finest.
Dark Comedy, Comedy Drama
By Maia Novi
Director: Michael Breslin
Cast includes: Maia Novi; Kalifa Taylor; Harrison Osterfield; Max Percy; Ella Blackburn.
Until 3rd October 2025
Running Time: 75 minutes with no interval
Photo credits: Danny Kaan