The musical drama Rachel's Song was written some years ago by local composer Mike Donnelly but it is ready to be reprised.It is the story of a young unmarried woman who becomes pregnant as a teenager and experiences considerable family pressure to consider an abortion. Against her own preferred judgement she reluctantly gives way and goes ahead with the abortion, with subsequent emotion and guilt.
In the depression that follows, she fantasises about what might have been, enters a world of imagination and dreams about a place where children who never saw their mothers live; children who are happy yet retain a longing for the one they have never known.
Mike has tried to capture within 20 songs the emotion and sensitivities of this drama and during its debut performance he used young people aged 12–13 to represent the 'children'. The composer also strove to avoid judgement or bias as the underpin, instead replacing them with love.
The musical score, lyrics, director's notes and full-backing CD are available via free download from the website: michaelispublishing.com. The project may interest a parish, secondary school or college. Mike can also be contacted directly on 0151 428 4955.