Woza Albert has been criticized for doing too much in too little space, likely because the play addresses oppression, labor, survival, separation of families between South African homelands and the cities, poverty and homelessness, police brutality, and political imprisonment. However, the play addresses three key themes that have the most meaningful implications for theatergoers. Resisting oppression with religious faith is an important theme of the play. This theme takes on ironic undertones because, in a society where there is such institutionalized racism and systematic oppression, it seems hypocritical that the Afrikaner government is a self-proclaimed Christian nation. Thus, the metaphor of the Savior’s return is complex and appropriate for the type of satire that Ngema, Mtwa, and Barney Simon created for the stage.
