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Act 1, Part 1

• The play begins with a prologue.

• The narrator, El Pachuco, appears and is dressed in a zoot suit.

• El Pachuco says the "pachuco" is part mythic hero and part heroic joke.

• El Pachuco says it is every young Chicano's secret wish in the 1940s in the barrio to live the pachuco dream of being a proud and visible Chicano while fitting in with American culture and society.

• Scene 1 begins at a dance in the barrio.

• El Pachuco sings while Henry, Henry's girlfriend Della, and other members of Henry's gang dance.

• The Downeys, a rival gang, appear.

• Rafas, the Downey's leader, shoves Rudy, Henry's brother.

• Scene 2 begins with sirens blaring and flashbulbs exploding as the police raid the dance and the press observe.

• The pachucos are arrested and placed in a mass lineup. The Press lists the headlines that appeared in the papers after the raid.

• Lt...

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