WINNER HFF DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP — A struggling Lebanese-American actress forms the first all-Arab improv team in this shawarma spin on “Pitch Perfect” ensemble competitions. Thanks to the Five Pillars of Improv, we’ll see rehearsals, backstage drama, and a grand finale performance highlighting different Middle Eastern identities, Arab characters with agency, Christians and Muslims, and incorporating REAL improv by taking audience suggestions.
THE STORY:
After another humiliating audition where Christian Rana can’t figure out how to tie a hijab (which is more complicated than you think), Bassam texts her a link to cheer her up. Rana’s shero Mayssam Tahan is hosting an amateur improv competition. Rana turns to her sister Lulu (a woman who is trans) to help the Arabs assemble.
A priest’s niece, a doctor, a model, a billionaire’s kid, and a new mother come together for the competition. After their improv team “The Arab Invasion” crushes round one out of three, Rana becomes more dictatorial than Saddam Hussein. Can Rana leave behind her need to win and celebrate the success of finding her community?
Production Team
