The Gnoufs [Les Gnoufs]

A couple organizes a gnouf-themed evening and hires an agency to provide authentic "gnouf” musicians. When the two musicians arrive, they do not meet the couple's expectations of a typical gnouf. The couple then tries to mold the musicians according to their idea of what it means to be a "gnouf." However, they each have their own idea of how the musicians should behave. She expects them to be distant and aloof; he expects them to babble and move around in a degrading way. His suggestions are so degrading that his wife accuses him of being anti-gnouf—a charge he rejects. He continues to ask the two musicians to characterize the stereotypical traits of gnoufs, including their accent. The work ridicules prejudice and discrimination, but its discourse is a reminder of the abhorrent treatment of Jews (“juifs”) during the Holocaust. The couple’s treatment of the musicians is dehumanizing. It is representative of the inhumane treatment of the Jewish people in Nazi concentration camps, where they were forced to play music and dance before they were killed. The play is part of the collection The Others (Les Autres)—with Holiday (Les Vacances), Brawl (Rixe), Michu, and The Redheads (Les Rouquins). All focus on the fear and the threat of otherness.

Format: One-act play

Cast Size: 1M/1F

Running Time: 30 minutes

Original or Prominent Production:
First performed in 1992, directed by Jean-Claude Penchenat, in the Théâtre La piscine Châtenay-Malabry, France.

Original Language: French

Publisher:

Part of a collection of works. (“Les autres”: “Les Vacances,” “Michu,” “Rixe,” “Les Rouquins,” “Les Gnoufs”) edited by Actes Sud Papiers, 1985. Also in “Les courtes” Babel N° 159 (Coédition Actes-Sud, Labor, L’Aire, Leméac).

Experience(s) Chronicled: Germany, Hitler and the Growth of Nazism | Allegoric or Metaphoric Representations