|
Prologue
Iron Road opens in 1880s Guangdong Province, China. Lai Gwan attends to her mother, Ama, who is on her deathbed. As the mother dies, she gives Lai Gwan her wedding gown, a final token of love, and advises she go to Gum San in search of her father, who left years ago to find work in Canada.
Act 1
Lai Gwan disguises herself as a man and boards a ship for Canada. Meanwhile, Manli, an emigrant worker, has become a powerful bookman in charge of hiring cheap Chinese labour. Upon Lai Gwan's arrival, the father and daughter meet, but do not recognize each other. Lai Gwan's rebellious spirit provokes Manli, and she is ordered to work the dangerous job of planting dynamite suspended from a rock face. Later, Lai Gwan is bathing in a stream when Nichol, a white railroad engineer, enters and realizes she is truly a woman. Lai Gwan begs Nichol to protect her identity. Suddenly, Manli enters and orders she return to work immediately.
The following day, a procession of Chinese workers ushers in the body of yet another dead comrade; Lai Gwan leads the procession. The workers blame Nichol for the death and he resolves to protect Lai Gwan. The labourers gather and discuss their longing for home, poor working conditions and possible murder of the white workers. Lai Gwan advises they protest peacefully by withholding their labour. Manli becomes aware of their protest and blames Lai Gwan, ordering she be hanged at once. However, Nichol defends her, addressing Manli by his first name. Lai Gwan realizes the bookman is her father and confesses.
Act 2
Lai Gwan is banished from work. In the morning, Manli finds his daughter and the two argue. Lai Gwan reveals her mother's death and Manli becomes overwhelmed by guilt. Defeated, he heads toward the mountain with dynamite. Lai Gwan and Nichol meet, rushing to the tunnel where her father has gone, but they become trapped as an explosion that collapses the cave. As Nichol lays dying, they profess their love. Nichol dies; later, Manli is found alive.
A few years later, workers hear a train arriving from the east; the railroad is complete. Donald Smith enters and strikes the final stake at Eagle's pass. Afterward, Manli and Lai Gwan perform funeral rituals for the dead, by which the spirits bless them and they are to live together in peace.
|