Girls & Boys

By: Dennis Kelly

Narrated by: Carey Mulligan

When they met at an airport, it was love at first sight. But in time, everything collapsed. As an unnamed but unforgettable woman muses on her life—from meet cute to marriage and parenthood—her recollections inexorably build to a devastating truth. In this shattering performance, Carey Mulligan, star of the critically lauded drama An Education, captivates audiences with playwright Dennis Kelly’s harrowing ruminations on family, ambition, gender, and violence. An acclaimed Off-Broadway play, the gut-wrenching world of Girls & Boys now thrives as an Audible Theater production.

After the play, this program includes an interview with Tony-winning playwright Dennis Kelly, who shares the inspiration behind his work.

Note: Girls & Boys is intended for a mature audience and contains graphic descriptions of violence.

©2018 Dennis Kelly (P)2018 AO Media, LLC.

Woah! Good, I wish I would have known.

The story was good, it moved along and kept me engaged. the narrator was a lot of fun, although it took me a few minutes to adjust to her very fast paced English accent. ****Spoilers ahead****** but I really wish I would have known what was coming. I mean I get the twist is apart of the good listen, but my neighbor did this to his family 8 months ago. His wife, 4 year old daughter and 2 year old son. I have been haunted and struggling to come to terms with it, I hate that I see their house everytime I look out my window. I hate that the house just sold and that my state is a nondisclosure state so the new owners probably do not know, yet, it is only a matter of time. If I didn't have a more personal connection with murder-suicide, I probably would have loved it. But the moment I realized what was going on, it reopened my mind to thoughts that I was just learning to close up again....

Absolutely fantastic

Carey Mulligan made this for me, I don't think I would have had the draw to this if it weren't for her. I laughed, I cried, I sat in awe of this performance in the hour and a half that it took to make it happen.

Brilliant writing and performance

This was such a short book because it was actually a monologue, wonderfully performed by Carrie Mulligan. I loved how normal the characters and their lives are, until they are not.
This fine exploration of how we cope with being human reminds me a bit of George Elliott's work in its intelligence and compassion and lack of interest in creating angels or monsters.
I am grateful to have been able to hear this.

the story and her performance combined to wreck me

Wow! This play was stunning, shocking, sad and unforgettable. Carey Mulligan was riveting. I loved the quiet way she handled the material. I love the little moments in which Kelly had the woman break the fourth wall and speak directly to the audience. And that little warning where she reminds me that what I was afraid was coming is actually coming, but also provides the trigger warning and then says to me that I need to remember it isn't happening to me and isn't happening now... that moment devastated me. In fact, after the lengthy discussion of the most horrific part of the story that she warned me about, I hit rewind and went back to hear the warning again. It was beautiful and powerful.

This story, and all its lessons, will linger with me for a long time to come. And I will seek out anything done by Carey Mulligan from now on. She was brilliant.

A stab to the heart

Just finished the piece and still a bit shell shocked by the ending. I had no idea the smart, funny, foul-mouthed observational humorist narrating the play was going to stab me in the heart as she recounts what happened to her and her children. My god. Part of me is upset my co-worker, who recommended this, didn't prepare me; part of me knows it might not have had the same impact if the plot had been disclosed beforehand.

I've been enchanted with Carey Mulligan since "Suffragette" and could not imagine anyone else narrating this piece. Brava, Ms. Mulligan. Brava.