The audiobook concludes with words spoken by Dennis Kelly. He tells us why he wrote the play and what he has attempted to achieve. What he says gives one food for thought.

This is an extraordinary work and with Butel directing the magnificent Justine Clarke, it sings tour de force in all directions.” The Barefoot Review

In Girls and Boys, the woman’s daughter, Leanne, spends her time painstakingly creating objects, such as a Shard made out of mud, while her young son, Danny, runs around destroying his sister’s structures. One of the quiet, unassuming pleasures of the evening is watching Mulligan’s character trying to teach her children with all the unsung heroism that requires.

Review: I never read or listen to a book twice, as I'm too scared of missing out on an amazing new read and I also worry that I may not enjoy a story as much the second time round. But I remember loving this one and I couldn't remember the ending so gave it another listen, and I'm so glad I did. This is my definitely my all-time favorite free audible original. I met my husband in the queue to board an easyJet flight and I have to say I took an instant dislike to the man.” This is a weird thing. It starts off really nice and light and, since both Kelly and Mulligan are Brits, has a sort of distinctive Richard Curtis (of "Notting Hill" and "Love Actually" fame) thing about it.Kelly won a Tony award for the original book of the musical (with Tim Minchin writing its memorable songs) and has written the screenplay for the much-anticipated Netflix adaptation, (due in December). “It’s been shot, it’s in the edit now,” he says. “I think it’s really good. It looks amazing, and it’s got a new song at the end that Tim’s written, which is just beautiful. Oddly, I think it feels more emotional than the stage show.” Shiels plays a gutsy, funny working-class woman who blags her way into a film industry job. She falls head-over-heels in love with a charismatic man she meets at Naples airport, marries, has two children and buys a house. The woman – she is never named – divides her time between her flourishing production company and kids who squabble over plasticine dinosaurs and the like. Kelly began work on Girls and Boys over two years ago in Naples airport while waiting, like the character in his play, for a flight. The play wasn’t commissioned by a theatre, but was something that Kelly felt compelled to write after wondering about the origins and effects of male violence. He sent the first draft to director Lyndsey Turner, and they developed it together before taking it to the Royal Court. In just 70 minutes, all alone on an aqua-coloured stage, Carey Mulligan takes us from ribald laughter to icy devastation. I absolutely recommend this audiobook to everyone. If you are like me and not able to see this play in person or to those that have already seen the play. The bonus content interview with Dennis Kelly is fantastic, and I love hearing his process of writing this piece and how it relates to manhood and masculinity and its victims. It’s a timely piece during this #MeToo movement, and it’s refreshing to hear a play performed for a woman dealing with that issue written by a man who is very conscious and careful with how he handles the material.

There’s all this stuff about comedians – some people think they’re free to say everything, some comedians say they’re not free. Who gives a f*** what comedians say? Why do we care? It’s what real people say.” New York City offers plenty of excellent acting courses, but there is no finer master class currently available than the one being presented eight times a week at the Minetta Lane Theatre. It’s there that Carey Mulligan delivers an unforgettable performance in Dennis Kelly’s one-person play Girls & Boys. For anyone interested in the art of stage acting, attendance is mandatory.I’ve met people who have had terrible things happen to them almost on a par with this. What always impresses me is their ability to put one foot in front of the other. You’d think an unimaginable tragedy would make you curl up in a ball, but people don’t. They get up, they move and they continue.” This is a drama monologue; one woman is speaking to us, to you and to me. What she is telling us is honest and true and upfront. She is speaking from her heart. The honesty is brutal. In particular, there’s a missed opportunity to explore gender and marital competition, and the way that men’s support for their partners can turn into rage when the women become more successful. Often, that story is told from the point of view of the man, but Girls & Boys is instead seen through a wife who outpaces her husband and then finds she no longer recognizes him. That’s a fascinating subject for a play, one that has room for internal conflict, inappropriate sentiments, thematic thorniness. All of these qualities are missing from Girls & Boys. For a play that begins with the kind of laugh-out-loud raunch that viewers of Ali Wong’s recent comedy specials will find familiar, it turns out to be remarkably tame, tasteful, and all-too-appropriate when the subject matter turns weighty. As a few people have mentioned if you are a sensitive reader/listener then best you research this a bit more before diving in. The 51-year-old has a frank, unfiltered way of delivering opinions that may owe something to his upbringing in a large family – he’s the middle child of five born to working-class Irish parents in north London.