Zheng Zhou & Zhu Ge Zeng
as Manli & Lai Gwan Reconciled
IRON ROAD - A new Canadian opera

Scene-by-Scene Synopsis
ACT I:

Prologue - The Old World
Time: late 1800's. Place: a small village hut in the province of Guangdong. Ama lies on her deathbed surrounded by the women of her village; they stand vigil as Ama's daughter Lai Gwan enters and comforts her mother. Ama reminisces about the old days with her husband, before he left to seek his fortune in North America. Ama gives Lai Gwan her wedding gown as a last gift and tells her to make the journey to the New World to find her missing father. She warns her never to forget her heritage.

Act 1, Scene 1
The Ship Day breaks on the deck of a merchant steamer bound for British Columbia. Among the group is Lai Gwan disguised as a young man. There is great anticipation as they finally see Gum San - The Golden Mountain.

Act 1, Scene 2 - The Iron Road
In Ottawa, Canadian politicians and moguls toast the launch of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The Railway Foreman, James Nichol encourages the workers as they push their way across the country. Eventually, the impenetrable Rocky Mountains block their way. The Bookman comes to their rescue. He will supply the cheap Chinese labour that will allow Nichol to conquer "The Great Divide."

Act 1, Scene 3 - The Mountain
The Bookman shifts the scene to Hell's Gate. The Chinese workers are lead in and a disguised Lai Gwan challenges the Bookman's authority right from the start. He, in turn, seeks revenge by assigning Lai Gwan to the most dangerous work in the camp: planting dynamite on the mountain face while suspended in a basket.

Act 1, Scene 4 - The Stream
Away from the crowd, Lai Gwan bathes in secret by a stream. Nichol enters and discovers that Lai Gwan is a woman. Lai Gwan begs him not to tell anyone. She would be an outcast. The Bookman enters abruptly. Embarrassed, Lai Gwan and Nichol separate. A suspicious Bookman leads Lai Gwan away leaving Nichol alone to decide whether he should help her or not.

Act 1, Scene 5 - The Camp
The next day, another dead worker is carried into camp. The Bookman explains to Nichol that the workers blame him for this death - and for the damnation of the worker's spirit. The body is carried off and the workers gather around a fire. They try to forget their hardship by they singing a nostalgic folk-song.

They complain about the poor conditions of the camp and start talking rebellion. Lai Gwan tells them to protest peacefully rather than resort to violence.

The workers call for a strike. The railway "herders" rush in and crush the protest. The Bookman enters and blames the rebellion on Lai Gwan; he tells the herders to hang this rebel. Nichol arrives just in time to stop the lynching. Lai Gwan reveals that she is a woman.

ACT II:

Prologue - The Dream
Lai Gwan dreams. Ama teaches a young Lai Gwan the five Taoist elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. The voices of Ama, Nichol, her father and her ancestors mingle in her dream state.

Act 2, Scene 1 - Outside the Tunnel
Lai Gwan awakens from her dream. At dawn she sits alone, banished from the camp. Her father enters and the two begin to argue. The fight continues fiercely until Lai Gwan reveals that Ama is dead. Crushed by the news and wracked with the guilt of his abandonment, her father grabs the "short straw" from a pair of workers and heads into the tunnel with a dynamite charge. Lai Gwan rushes into the tunnel mouth to save her father. Nichol follows her. An explosion - the tunnel mouth collapses.

Act 2, Scene 2 - The Cave
Lai Gwan comforts an injured Nichol. They profess their love and kiss. As Nichol sings a love song to Lai Gwan, Ama's spirit returns to warn her of the dangers of loving a white man. The sound of pick-axes signals Lai Gwan's rescue. Someone dies; and someone lives.

Act 2, Scene 3 - The Iron Dragon
A few years later, the Chinese workers hear an ominous sound in the distance. The first train pushes its way through the mountains towards Eagle Pass.

Act 2, Scene 4 - The Last Spike
Moguls celebrate at Eagle Pass. Donald Smith delivers the final hammer blow...but misses. The Chinese workers laugh. Smith pushes them "out of the picture". A herder announces that the Chinese are no longer needed. The Chinese workers lament. The poorest will be scattered like rice across the country.

In the end, there is no one left to gather the bones of the dead. Lai Gwan steps forward and says that she will perform the sacred rights of burial.

Act 2, Scene 5 - Remember the Dead
As Lai Gwan sanctifies the bones, she summons the dead and releases them from limbo. The dead bless her and grant her the ability to live the rest of her life in peace.

THE BUILDING OF A NEW OPERA

BRAVE NEW WORLD


Production photos: Cylla Von Tiedemann