
Gilly Gilly
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Narrated by:
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Cush Jumbo
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By:
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Cush Jumbo
About this listen
The kitchen is the beating heart of every home—but for one woman summoned to an empty house, it’s also the portal to a complicated past. Forced to confront her family’s dark history or risk perpetuating it for generations to come, the woman sets out to do what her mother and grandmother before her never could. Written and performed by Olivier Award nominee Cush Jumbo (The River) and directed by Tony Award® nominee Phyllida Lloyd (The Iron Lady), Gilly Gilly is a haunting and powerful new play that explores the joys and complexities that exist between parents and children—and asks just how many secrets one kitchen can hold.
Portions of this audio drama contain mature language and themes. Listener discretion is advised.
Except(s) from Darling Greatly: How The Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown, Copyright Ⓒ 2021 by Brené Brown. Used by permission of Gotham Books, and imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
If you’ve been affected by the subject matter, these organisations can provide support:
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About the Creator and Performer

About the Director
Featured Article: Best of the Year—The 10 Best Audible Theater Listens of 2022
Audible Theater takes what you thought you knew about going to a play and turns it on its head. With a vast array of extraordinary voices that go beyond the stage (and the book), we're delivering a new vision of what theater can be. Some of the best productions this year were recorded in front of a live audience at our own Minetta Lane Theatre, while others were honed and polished in our studios, created strictly to be heard.
What listeners say about Gilly Gilly
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- AGM
- 09-09-22
EMPOWERING, funny and deeply moving. A roar!
Such beautiful storytelling that doesn't shy away from tackling a difficult subject. Inspiring and empowering. And now I want to bake some scones!
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1 person found this helpful
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- MEA
- 10-20-22
Interesting segue!
Enjoyed the intriguing concept and powerful performance. Would only have appreciated just a notch or 2 up in the volume of her mother’s voice on the phone. Recommend for a good, relatively brief listen.., just the right amount of content.
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- K. Lynn Stoner
- 11-24-22
Destressing.
The narration is superb and the story well conceived and written. The topic is true and deeply troubling.
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- Book Addict
- 05-14-24
The pacing was excellent
Cush Jumbo explores a universal timeless issue creatively, honestly, and with strength and hope. So good!
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- Henslee W.
- 09-13-22
INTENSE- beware
Seriously, if you have been affected by sexual abuse just be aware of the intensity of emotion. Thankfully nothing graphic, but disturbing and uplifting all at the same time.
Production note, it’s almost impossible to hear the person on the “other end“ of the phone. Either let us imagine or turn the damn thing up. Frustrating.
Performance is Oscar worthy or whatever the audible version is.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Kathiren Rael
- 11-26-22
Powerful
So much covered in such a short amount of the me so worth the time
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- Marcia Wasser
- 02-04-24
Impressive one woman show
Well done but predictable. An excellent performance. Important topic and upsetting of course but did not love the play.
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- J*
- 09-13-22
Powerful
Starts out like a visit to grandma's house and quickly unfolds multigenerational trauma, all neatly packed away and then perfectly baked in an hour session where the 3rd generation finally gives voice and takes control. How many of us have lived through this?
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1 person found this helpful
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- Gentle Heart
- 09-22-22
POWERFUL
Dark subject, matter masterfully written and emotionally read.
I couldn't stop listening.
It angered me; it made my soul ache; it made me sad; it made me feel powerless.
This story will haunt me.
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- Rebecca
- 11-10-22
Powerful and moving
This play about generational trauma is both entertaining and challenging, it deals with the subject of childhood sexual abuse from the perspective of the child of a survivor.
This is one of those rare pieces that manages, in a very short time, to pack a very powerful message into an entertaining story.
The narration was spot on. I really enjoyed it.
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