Sanüa first expressed his sense of Egyptian identity in his plays.Though far from being the first to introduce drama to Egyptian audiences, he was the first to set his plays in Egyptian households, with characters speaking in the everyday rhythms of colloquial Arabic. In this way, Egypt, or more par- ticularly, Cairo, becomes the backdrop against which Sanüa presented Egyptians with an image of themselves. … Sanüa created characters out of recognizable characteristics, some that the audience would find endearingly familiar, others that symbolized foreigners.These types fit into a social niche, particularly the Sudanese; through the proverbs and jokes his characters make about them, Sanüa offers a glimpse into where the Sudanese fit in the domestic, everyday life of Cairene society.

Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Coloni…, loc. 355