A new modern Our Town.
During the historic Texas summer drought of 2011, a spirited daughter returns home from college to work on the family farm — just as it falls on hard times.
During the historic Texas summer drought of 2011, a spirited daughter returns home from college to work on the family farm — just as it falls on hard times.
“If you had a Mother, you'll care, and cry.”
Texas, summer 2011.
A rural Central Texas farm in the grip of one of the worst droughts the state has seen — the land cracked, the water scarce, and a family holding on to what's left of it.
Mourning Doves is written by an author who grew up in the rural heart of Texas, and knows how these people live — the work, the weather, and the quiet economics of keeping a farm alive.
The things this story is really about.
Three people, one house, and everything left unsaid between them.
The Mother
Faith worn soft by years of holding everything together.
The Father
A man measuring his life against the rain that won't come.
The Daughter
Home again, and not sure which version of herself belongs there.
A new modern Our Town.
Steel Magnolias meets Heartland.
A story drawn from real life.
Mourning Doves is semi-autobiographical, written by an author who grew up in the rural heart of Texas and knows this family's world firsthand — the quiet burdens a household carries, and the things that go unsaid until they can't be anymore.
Mourning Doves was a Second Round Selection at the Austin Film Festival in 2019 — the year Mary Anzalone was also accepted into The Playwrights Welcome Program, launched by Marsha Norman.