A NEW SPECIES OF ACTRESS
Maia Novi’s Invasive Species is a topsy-turvy meta play that reflects its plot: a moment in the life of a confused young woman infected with the acting bug. Or so it seems at the beginning; very soon we discover that the core of the piece is dedicated to mental illness, a delicate and profound issue. Directed by Michael Breslin at the Vineyard’s Dimson Theater, Invasive Species starts as a dark comedy — Maia, playwright and protagonist, is a young Argentinean aspiring actress bitten by a human-size acting bug, played colorfully by Julian Sanchez.
Alexandra Maurice, Maia Novi, Julian Sanchez, Raffi Donatich, Sam Gonzalez
Alexandra Maurice, Maia Novi, Sam Gonzalez, Julian Sanchez
She embarks in an indulgent pursuit of fame. First, she enrolls at a French clown academy in Paris, then at the Yale School of Drama, a place that may land you a part in Hollywood, her true dream. Pressure at Yale is a given; the professors who were delighted by her accent when she enrolled soon beg her to change it, to conform; she needs to imitate Gwyneth Paltrow’s voice, same sentence over and over, because she has a “lazy tongue.” In her final showcase at the school, she is supposed to play Evita Peron but Maia is too anxious, she is doing cocaine with the other students to cope, having hallucinations, and she can’t sleep so she sees a doctor who gives her a sleeping pill.
Sam Gonzalez, Julian Sanchez, Maia Novi, Raffi Donatich, Alexandra Maurice
Julian Sanchez and Maia Novi
She wakes up in a psych ward for teenagers who do not believe a word she is saying. She is in her 20s, doesn’t belong, and she doesn’t remember how she got there, but with the help of the three kids in her ward we find out. Alexandra Maurice is Akila, a 16-year-old survivor of suicide, played amiably with sweet and sour tones by the actress; Sam Gonzalez, who starred in BATHHOUSE.PPTX in March, easily switches between Jacob — a depressed, rebellious teenager — and the cold attending doctor; and Sanchez who plays Eduardo, the silent, depressed patient that can hide in plain sight. Raffi Donatich is Nurse Elsa, their Nurse Ratched, matter-of-fact and merciless.
Maia Novi and Alexandra Maurice
Maia Novi and Julian Sanchez
We get to know a bit of Maia’s family history through two phone calls she makes. One to her mother who is in an eternal manic state, superficial and narcissistic, another to her father who is also self involved, more worried about what people would think than the fact that his daughter is in a psych ward in New Haven. Both parents are played by a gut-busting, animated Gonzales in Spanish, translated in part by Donatich. Maia always has a vivid imagination that turns into hallucinations; she sees herself on a Hollywood movie set where she plays Evita and an oblivious British director, played by a spirited Sanchez, who tells her over and over to drop the Paltrow voice and adopt the stereotypical Latino accent expected in movies, rolling Rs to death, no H, big gestures, calling it “authentic.” Donatich here plays the crazed agent, talking a mile a minute, popping here and there like a Jack-in-the-box; she is delightful.
Maia Novi
Time transitions, even if they are underlined by Yichen Zhou’s lighting design and sound by Jessie Char & Maxwell Neely-Cohen, are not dramatic enough and they are bumpy, which makes the flow fragmented, almost intentionally disorienting. Novi is talented, full of energy, and delivers the wordy script as in an acting marathon but the subject matter (mental illness) deserves more time, depth, and the script better editing (the dating scene seemed useless and the jumping around time chaotic). The bare big black stage, with only five stock chairs, does not help; it puts all the pressure on the actors and you feel you are watching a drama school exercise. This play is in part inspired by the monologues of Spalding Gray, specifically, his 1977 production of Rumstick Road with the Wooster Group. Maybe a more intimate space, a smaller venue, would have been more apt. Either way, Invasive Species feels like a work-in-progress with an excellent ensemble that I hope will develop into a finished, successful dark comedy.
photos by Julieta Cervantes
Invasive Species
Folk Productions, Danielle Perelman, Arterial Projects
The Vineyard’s Dimson Theatre, 108 E 15th St
ends on June 30, 2024
for tickets, vist Invasive Species or Vineyard Theatre
$10 tickets available for 10pm Friday performances
$20 walk-up tickets available at every performance
