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Maia Novi is one of the most exciting voices working on entertainment. The actress and playwright was born and raised in Argentina and brings a unique perspective to the immigrant story, a subgenre that has exploded in recent years with muddling results.
Novi is the author of "Invasive Species," a play that had its off-Broadway debut earlier this year. Sparse and vibrant, the play is unlike other immigrant narratives of the sort, exploring the story of her migration to America, and the many challenges and microaggressions she experiences as a result. Added to that is a mental health story, following Novi's stint at a psychiatric children's ward where she was interned by mistake after experiencing a psychological break prompted by the demands of her acting program.
Novi tackles serious topics with grace and comedy. Her dialogue is snappy and hilarious, her performance is vibrant to the point of exhaustion. It's a perfectly calibrated act.
“I made all of this with my friends. There’s a language that exists that saves you so much when creating something. When there are time constraints you need pillars of communication that allow you to express things that you can’t communicate with words.” Maia Novi in an interview with HOLA! USA.
Made in collaboration with her fellow graduates from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, Novi is one of the most exciting theater voices at the moment. "Invasive Species" was made with her friends and collaborators Jeremy O'Harris, who wrote "Slave Play," which was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, Louisa Godard, who stars in "The Gilded Age" and is the daughter of Meryl Streep, Amauta Firmino, her current partner and a dramaturg, and Michael Breslin, a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
One of the reasons why Novi's work feels so revolutionary is the fact that she's working in reaction to the art that's already available in the US and wishes to bring a more Latin American perspective to things, filled with surrealism and inventiveness that remains incredibly foreign to American audiences.
“All of these plays that have come out are based on archetypes that paint Latin America as this giant sausage made up of the same things," she explains.
If you missed her show, don't fret. Novi is working on multiple projects shortly, including a film, that she wrote alongside her partner Firmino, a new play, and a TV adaptation of "Invasive Species."