David Andrew Reid & Megan Murphy in Love You Forever and More Munsch | Photo by Dahlia Katz
Love You Forever and More Munsch, presented by Young People’s Theatre, packs a whole heap of bouncy business into its 45 minute runtime, ensuring that the youngest of the intended audience of 4 to 9 year olds have plenty to hold their attention. This adaptation, by Stephen Colella and Sue Miner, of several Robert Munsch stories never feels overwrought, though, and even manages to effectively tug at the heart strings in its rendition of perennial tear-jerker, “Love You Forever.” Under the whimsical, kinetic direction of Colella and Karen Gilodo, this clangy, rattly, bing-bangy mischief is very charming.
Robin Fisher’s huge, forced perspective set effectively conveys a small child’s perspective of their bedroom as a vast playground full of prompts for imagination. The long curtains draped down to the stage floor from suspended windows high at the back seemed primed for climbing! (Alas, nobody climbed them. I’m still recovering from my disappointment.) Most prominent are a loft bed with pole, a tall wardrobe and a mobile set of shelves. All this has been stylized to look like children’s book illustrations with a rather striking 3-D popping effect.
At the top, we are introduced to the pajama-clad Mortimer (David Andrew Reid), his Sister (Megan Murphy) and Mother (Amy Lee). Mother is trying to get him to brush his teeth for bed, but he just wants to play. Both Mother and Sister keep shushing him, but he’s just not tired and there is sooooo much noise to make and adventures to have! From there, we get sucked into his wild imagination which takes us through such stories as “The Paperbag Princess,” “Murmel, Murmel, Murmel” and “Zoom!” Murphy and Lee take on a colourful series of personae as the outlandlish, ever-evolving scenarios play out. All three are very endearing as they scamper, shout and bound with infectious zeal.
Olivia Wheeler’s sound designer gives playful audio texture to all the shenanigans, so props and gestures seem larger than life, made epic by the eager Mortimer’s fanciful daydreaming. This unfolds with a young child’s logic, which fixates on wish fulfilment, quirky problem solving and eccentric, exaggerated personalities. There’s a ridiculous dragon, a harried cat lady, a frantic business woman, a woman with her super fast, bedazzled wheelchair that pumps out smoke as is goes zoomy zoom!
The rest of the design team Jung A Im (costumes) and Jareth Li (lighting), contribute to the show’s precarious balance of the mundane domestic reality of Mortimer’s home life and the colourful, dynamic internal world he conjures. Unlike some kids shows, which nudge and wink at their adult audience, this has no interest in such layers of self-awareness. This is a rambunctious romp and that’s that!
That said, the “Love You Forever” sequence, which takes us through a parent’s daily frustrations with a growing child and consistent reflecting on their steady love, is earnestly attuned to an adult’s awareness. Unabashedly sentimental, on the cusp of cloying, I’ve never been entirely won over by this story, but I have to admit (somewhat begrudgingly) that it does have a certain power. The journey of life, from newborn to elderly and the cycle repeating for a new generation, has a potent sincerity that hits.
Love You Forever and More Munsch
February 19 to March 21, 2026
Young People’s Theatre
(165 Front Street East)
45 minutes
Amy Lee & David Andrew Reid in Love You Forever and More Munsch | Photo by Dahlia Katz