Look out behind you, the annual Bermuda, Musical & Dramatic Society Christmas pantomime is back, with "Ali Baba and the 14 Thieves".

This week spoke with three members of the cast, Devaune Ratteray (Ali Baba), Adrian Kawaley-Lathan (the monkey), and Nicola Wilkinson (front end camel).

'Ali Baba and the 14 Thieves' was written by local Carol Birch, so there will be lots of 'Bermiecentric' humour. It will be on at the City Hall Theatre from December 7 to 16. Tickets go on sale on November 25.

In this year's pantomime, the story goes that Ali Baba has almost saved up enough money to marry his sweetheart and take her away to far off lands where she would never be a servant again. Unfortunately, life never goes as planned. Thieves show up and steal all his savings. So he sets out on the traditional pantomime quest with monkey and camel friends Bingo and Calid and a few others.

Hint ? Bingo's got the sweets.

"In this story, the rest of the 40 thieves have retired leaving only 14," said Mr. Ratteray. "And of the 14 left, there are really only six because the rest had their work permits run out."

Mr. Ratteray celebrates his 27th birthday today. He studied at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he obtained a degree in performance. Since then he has been dancing professionally in Los Angeles. Currently, he is home for a couple of months.

"It is tricky to pursue a theatre career in Bermuda," said Mr. Ratteray. "When people ask me what my options are, I have to say I will most likely be moving in and out of Bermuda or I can create something here. "Currently, I am teaching dance at Jackson School of Performing Art. I am teaching students who are fairly young."

Mr. Ratteray said he is really beginning to catch the teaching bug and might reconsider his original ambition to leave after a short time.

"I might end up staying here longer than I originally thought and maybe start some break-dancing classes or something like that, to get kids doing things instead of sitting around," he said.

He said it is sometimes difficult for boys to break into dance forms like ballet, because of the peer pressure. He thought it might be more socially accepted, in some circles, for boys to be involved in dance forms like hip hop.

"While I was home, I thought, why not do the pantomime?" said Mr. Ratteray.

Mr. Ratteray said every time he has been involved in the pantomime the production has been bigger and better.

"That has been really great to see," he said. "We have put so much into the production, and it is great to see the popularity and support behind it."

Mr. Kawaley-Lathan, 23, said he has been singing and dancing for most of his life.

"I just finished my bachelors degree in May," he said. "I actually have two degrees, one in peace studies, and one in theatre and film from McMaster University in Canada. "I had a good opportunity to do a lot of theatre and dance work when I went to school in Hong Kong for a couple of years prior to my bachelors degree.

"That was an amazing experience. The whole world is out there so it makes it difficult to come back to a small Island like Bermuda. Everything was at your doorstep, as it were."

Mr. Kawaley-Lathan is working for the Department of Community & Culture Affairs.

"That ties in well with my peace studies stuff which covers a lot of culture and politics," he said. "It also ties in my theatre stuff to a degree regarding culture and documenting and archiving traditions and culture which often involves performance art."

Nicola Wilkinson, who plays Calid the Camel's front end said jokingly that while her fellow actors have been moving up the acting ladder, she has actually been moving down the totem pole.

"I have zero professional development in theatre of any shape or form," she said. "I have been living in Bermuda 13 years. I joined BMDS three years ago. I started off back stage, producing shows, stage manager.

My first experience on stage was in Famous for 15 Minutes in one of Jean Hannant's plays. (Mrs. Hannant went on to win the covered Golden Inkwell that year).

"I went from being an angel to a stripper in Tony and Tina's Wedding, which I have been involved in the last two seasons since it started. Now I am the front of a camel."

Mrs. Wilkinson works at CedarBridge Academy and is originally from Lancashire, England. In Britain, pantomimes are a Christmas staple.

"I don't think enough Bermudians are exposed to pantomimes, as much as people are in England," said Mrs. Wilkinson. "It is amazing how many people I bump into, I say, 'are you going to go and see the pantomime', and they say, 'what's a pantomime?'

"I think the longer we put it on, on a yearly basis, the more people are going to get exposed to it. It is a great show for the kids. There is not enough to do here for young, young children let alone teenagers."

She said kids who come to the pantomime often see their friends on stage and then try out for the pantomime themselves the next year. The youngest child in Ali Baba and the 14 Thieves will be eight years old.

"It gets people involved because it is so much fun to do," she said. "It is not too serious."

To get more children involved in the pantomime, school children are invited to two dress rehearsals. All Youthnet mentors and mentees will be going free of charge. This year there was also a 'Name the Dame' contest. The dame is being played by veteran actor Gavin Wilson.

It is set in Arabia, so contestants have to come up with some creative name. Whoever is chosen, that will be the dame's name and they will get free tickets to the pantomime.

"We have always sold out," Mrs. Wilkinson said. "It is the biggest money maker that BMDS puts on. Basically, it keeps the Daylesford Theatre going for the rest of the year."

Other major cast members include Alison Begeman (Morgiana), James Bennett (Hassan), Polly McKie (Catastrophe), Stephen Notman (Mustafa), Shawn Angiers (Bin Liner), Jenn Osmond (Spirit) and Will Smith (Shiek).