Luis Valdez-Early Works: Actos, Bernabé and Pensamiento Serpentino

This collection includes one-act plays by the famous farmwork theater, El Teatro Campesino and its director Luis Valdez; one of the first fully realized, full-length plays by Valdez alone; and an original narrative poem by Luis Valdez.

In the first part are collected the original, improvised works of El Teatro Campesino that deal with the exploitation of Mexican farm labor in the California fields, the discrimination found by Mexicans in the schools, and Mexicans being turned into cannon fodder by the American Army in Vietnam.

Bernabé is touching, Lorcaesque poetic drama about a town fool's enchantment and ultimate unity with the Earth.

Pensamiento serpentine is a philosophical poem based on Mayan thought and cosmology, which analyzes the cultural, religious and political circumstances of Mexican Americans and prepares a metaphysical framework for their future.