THE Wesley Players have left Cinderford behind and headed to Persia for this year’s pantomime.

The Players have chosen Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves for their 66th annual production.

After rehearsals at The Oaklands sports bar, the show is now on at the Miners Welfare Hall in Cinderford.

Based on the famous tale from One Thousand and One Nights, the original script was written by Elsie Olivey and adapted by Lynn Teague.

As usual, Lynn – and the other members of the group – has had multiple roles in the production.

As well as adapting the script, she appears as Ali Baba’s mother Alimah.

She also produced the show along with Louise Bullen, who takes the role of the hero.

Teyha-Rose Bullen plays Rum Baba, his brother

Kim Owston, who plays the good slave Morgiana also trained the young choruses along with Laura Hyde.

Tania Sudelin plays the evil Al Raschoun who is helped by his four main robbers played by Lorraine Symonds as Ding Dong,Tyler Crowell as U Pong, Matthew Bullen as Me Wong and Hannah Melia as So Long.

The show also features Daniel Faux as Ali’s rich uncle, Shirley James as his wife and Morgan Probert as their daughter – who also doubles as the Spirit of the Cave.

Lynn Teague said: “We’d like to thank all the mums, dads and grandparents of the cast who lend a hand, Santok Singh for the use of Oaklands for rehearsals and Cinderford Town Council for their continued support.

The show opened on Friday with performances on Saturday and Sunday.

The show continues this week on Friday and Saturday (January 20 and 21) with curtain up at 7.15pm and a matinee at 2pm on Sunday.

For tickets, contact Lynn on 07939 399125.