Al-Kassär continued to play Osman well into the 1930s and was, in that decade, also heard regularly on the radio, which underscores how easily blackface makeup translated into jokes about accents and foreign behavior that could be appreciated even on the airwaves. But the fact of an Egyptian acting out the words of a Nubian who was in turn imitating Egyptians and foreigners adds yet another level of self-conscious irony to this portrayal: the character of the Nubian becomes a mouthpiece through which a native son could reflect on his own country. Through this manipulated and sani- tized figure of the Sudan, the closeness and unity of the Nile Valley could be left unchallenged while the attention of the audience was turned toward their own society, and themselves.

Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Coloni…, loc. 933