Riyadh hosts grand finale of Comedy Factory initiative

Riyadh: The four-month Comedy Factory initiative to discover new artistic and comedic talents concluded at Boulevard Riyadh City.

CEO of the General Entertainment Authority Faisal Bafarat attended the grand finale of the comedy initiative, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.

Hassan Al-Balam, team leader of the Comedy Factory, said that the success of the initiative was largely due to the support of GEA Chairman Turki Al-Sheikh, adding that he “believed in the Comedy Factory concept and diligently pursued all of its details until it was realized.”

Al-Balam said: “During the project, we had clear goals set for us, namely, establishing a Saudi youth comedy theater.”

He expressed his gratitude to everyone who contributed to the project’s success.

At the ceremony, graduate students showcased their talents by performing two plays written by fellow graduates, titled “The Enchanted Chair” and “Alzheimer.”

The plays highlighted the skills and experience they had gained in impersonation, performance, and diction during their training.

The event concluded with the distribution of certificates to the students, and Bafarat presented commemorative shields to the faculty members in recognition of their efforts.

Shields were also presented to the outstanding students: Ghazwa Al-Mansour, Haitham Habib Al-Ahmed, Othman Khalid Al-Nassar, and Nawaf Al-Qahtani for scriptwriting; and Haifa Ibrahim, Abeer Fahd, Noura Abdullah, Sultan Mohammed Al-Faisal, Nasser bin Thani Al-Anazi, Omar bin Hamad Al-Qahtani, and Abdullah Al-Osaimi for acting.

The initiative provided Saudi youths with the opportunity to showcase their comedic talents and creative writing abilities, as well as to expand their skills under the guidance of academics and specialists in the field.

The initiative received 3,500 applications for participation, which were sorted and narrowed down to 300 applicants at the evaluation stage, including 40 students for the acting and writing tracks.