Swedish Furniture is a Serious, Realistic Look at Millennial Relationships
The latest play in the TACTICS Mainstage Series of local independent theatre, Swedish Furniture by Ottawa playwright Matt Hertendy is a realistic look at the stresses that a hard job market, aimlessness, and lack of sense of self put on a young relationship.
The premise of the play is simple but sets up the disastrous result from the beginning—building an IKEA bed. The moment you find out that this play is about a young couple trying to find work with arts degrees and build IKEA furniture, you know the play isn’t going to end well.
Hertendy and director Katie MacNeill don’t delay the inevitable for long—the play has several flashbacks and flash-forwards, including one in which the unnamed female character, played wonderfully by Megan Carty, is trying to return the bed. We know the relationship isn’t going to survive the bed-building process. Knowing what’s coming doesn’t take the punch out of it though. …