Act 2, Part 1 Summary

Prologue. We're welcomed back by El Pachuco, who tells us that later in the play we'll see a dramatization of the Zoot Suit riots and their outcome, but that for now, we'll watch the pachucos in prison.

Scene 1. Henry, Joey, Smiley and Tommy go into their cells for the night-time roll call. As a Guard calls out their numbers and the boys call out their names, Henry speaks the words of a letter he wrote to his family in which he describes prison life to them.

Scene 2. The letters continue, and we hear letters from Alice (who keeps the boys posted on the progress of their appeal), Smiley (who discourages door to door fundraising for the defense fund on the grounds that it's humiliating), Tommy (who struggles to find words to express his gratitude and also insists that he's as pachuco...