CultureLabel

The words ‘Flat pack’ might well evoke feelings of anger, frustration and failure for most of us but the Mammoth Music Theatre think outside the box and have put IKEA furniture to a wholly different and somewhat more inspirational use.

The innovative music theatre group recently staged Flatpack the opera in the Ikea furniture store in Wembley during opening hours over a series of evenings this June. Everything about Flatpack relates in some way to furniture, shopping and domesticity. Even the instruments in some of the scenes are reflections of this. Pots and pans, cheese graters and wine glasses create harmonies with the piano, accordion and cello. Writing for a small ensemble, composer Tom Lane explores how our consumer decisions and domestic interaction with others are indicators of more profound life choices and personalities.