Review: Invasive Species (King's Head Theatre)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Programming at the King’s Head Theatre has gone from strength to strength in the last few months. Now fully settled in its new space after 18 months, diverse shows have ensured a versatile but overall exciting year of productions, with recent shows FOUR PLAY and King Of Pangea the two strongest I have personally seen there. Hoping to continue that trend is the UK premiere of Maia Novi’s Invasive Species, making its debut in London after a critically acclaimed run off-Broadway. Would the response here be just as positive, or might this species struggle to take root on new soil?

Telling her own semi-autobiographical story, Invasive Species follows the journey of Maia, an Argentinean actor in pursuit of the American dream. After immigrating to the US, she sets her sights on becoming an actor to pursue the role of a lifetime. However, in the process, she risks losing her mind, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality as Maia begins to unravel.

Written from her own experiences, Invasive Species is clearly very raw and real, but it also can be hard to follow at times, feeling quite chaotic in its approach. It has a very distinct structure with the ability to move from one situation to another, never quite convincing you what is really real along the way. It may prove divisive to some, and there were some moments that certainly went over my head but, for the most part, I found myself drawn in to the story and captivated by it.

Billed as a dark comedy, the serious nature of the situation Maia finds herself in, and the very dark themes present throughout are mixed with moments of humour – sometimes surreal, but all worthy of a smile, if only for their unexpected nature. Along the way, we meet the Acting Bug, Gwyneth Paltrow and an overzealous director, while references to ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Spider-Man’ play out. If that sounds strange, you have no idea. But it oddly works – the moments of lucidity through the chaos are a beautiful representation of Maia’s own situation, which continued to play on my mind long after I left the theatre. In a case of great timing, Evita plays a big part in the story, one moment I hadn’t been expecting was a musical performance of ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’, but it was nice to actually see (part of) that number on stage this year.

Michael Breslin’s direction brings Maia’s story to life, making use of the small but versatile space in the King’s Head Theatre in creative ways. A mostly bare set, aside from a curtain and some chairs allows no distractions, and transitions from the contrasting settings instantly, with some great uses of lighting. One small note I’d say is to remember sightlines in a space such as the King’s Head Theatre, as the moments Maia was sitting or lying on the floor were not always easy to see, and risked lessening the impact of those pivotal moments.

Writer Maia Novi leads the show as “Maia”, in an urgent and often unconventional performance. Part play, part performance art, she is a captivating performer and offers intrigue throughout, though she did have a tendency to step on her fellow cast members lines a bit too often, though that might just be down to timing issues on the night. Her four fellow performers make up an ensemble, but each has their own time to shine, with Kalifa Taylor, Harrison Osterfield, Max Percy, and Ella Blackburn making up her fellow patients as well as those from her life before this situation unfolded. Percy is a highlight as Jacob, with Osterfield another standout, going from a larger-than-life “acting bug” to a mostly mute child. Taylor has a dominating presence as Akila, with Blackburn taking on an almost villainous quality in one of her roles, and the comedic standout with her brief but memorable appearances as Tina.

A show like nothing I have seen before, I left Invasive Species not quite certain how much I actually liked it, and kept pondering that on the journey home. I came to the conclusion that impactful theatre should stay with you throughout that journey home, and not pop out of your memory the instant you see something else on the underground. To that end, I could only conclude that Invasive Species deserved its flowers. Bold, brave, and certainly unconventional, its erratic nature may not be to everyone’s tastes, but if you are looking for something different to watch, you could do much worse than this new species of a show.

Invasive Species plays at the King’s Head Theatre until 3^rd October. Tickets from https://allthatdazzles.londontheatredirect.com/play/invasive-species-tickets

Photos by Danny Kaan