CALEB TAN
T&C is a first year Economics and Geography undergraduate. He writes fiction (murder mystery role-playing games @ kmsgames and this play) and non-fiction (on his blog, bookstagram @tnc_reads and film reviews for UCL Film Society) in his free time. He is seldom seen on campus as he is usually on his bed or at his desk but will definitely say hi if you see him around.
PLAYWRIGHT
DIRECTOR
ALASTAIR ANG
Alastair is 6-month survivor (as of March 2023) at the Bartlett School of Architecture. He used to draw in his free time, but now he just draws (there is no free time). He is almost always on campus but is mostly stuck in the studio so saying hi would be a feat!
FOREWORD
Hotel 18 has been repeatedly playing in my mind ever since I first conceptualised the idea in late 2022. I was extremely mesmerised by WILD RICE’s HOTEL staged in 2016 – the hotel as a metaphor for Singapore, with immigrants not dissimilar to hotel guests. It is a captivating journey through 100 years of Singapore’s history set in the same room in a luxurious hotel in Singapore.
Paying homage to the play and yet adding a twist, Hotel 18 is set in the same lobby of a cheap budget hotel in post-COVID Singapore. In contrast to the grandeur of the five-hour HOTEL, I hope to create an intimate shared experience between Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans in London.
HOTEL, Hotel 18 plays with time in a different way to examine a cross-section of Singapore society is a product of various literary inspirations and careful research and presents a universal story about identity and immigration through a wholly original whodunnit More so than figuring out the culprit, I hope
that the audience can reflect on how much we are complicit and responsible for events that happen around us, and what we can do to tell the stories hidden by society.
- CALEB, PLAYWRIGHT, HOTEL 18
FOREWORD
“Why always go out so late? You think this is a hotel is it?” –A typical Singaporean mother, who happens to also be your mother. Hotels are interesting spaces. They witness the ebb and flow of people: their encounters, and farewells. It is a transient space, but also a space for dwelling. If we think of the Hotel as a metaphor for Singapore, then what makes us guests and not host? Tonight, we meet 7 new guests and their 7 different motivations for coming to a hotel.
It has been a great honour to be able to lead a talented team of nearly 40 people. Each of our cast and crew has put in considerable effort beyond their academic pursuits in delivering tonight’s performance. Despite not having complete theatrical experiences, our cast and crew came together to tell the story of Hotel 18 – a dissection of Singapore’s society, where a set of interesting individuals’ stories converge. If Hotel 18 is a way to examine how we find ourselves not belonging, then Singapore Society is a reminder why we belong.
It is now our honour to invite you tonight for a 2-hour stay at our hotel. Let the doors open and your stay begin!
- ALASTAIR, DIRECTOR, HOTEL 18
MEET OUR
OUR CAST
BECCA HOLLINS AS
Becca is a first year Earth Sciences student from Brighton. (Note: not a place in Singapore, so not sure why she is here in a SingSoc play).
As well as Drama, she’s involved in UCL’s Film and Live Music societies, and also enjoys sports like Volleyball and Ice Skating.
HOLLINS JESS AS
She’s always happy to have a chat and meet new peoplethat’s if you can catch her running late to her lectures (and everything else) around campus!
JOSHUA
JOSHUA POH
BRUCE AS
Joshua is not even from UCL. He also questions why he is even involved in this play.
But he is single so help him get something out of this production after all the time and effort!
*Instagram @pohstarrrrr
JOHN
John is a final year Management Science student. No idea how he has time for a play. But if he had more time, you’ll catch him boxing, taking the tube to zone 6 or playing poker.
AS CA TAN
KHOO AS
Also if you peel him open he’ll start spilling red blue and gold. To God be the glory the best is yet to be.
TAN
HONG
CHU YAN
OLD MAN AS
Chu Yan is just as confused as you are as to how he is acting as an old man. He begrudgingly accepts being tormented by Costumes & Makeup, being made to do silly things on stage in the name of “comedy” and having to walk home after many rehearsals with half a head of white hair and white spray dripping down his neck.
In his spare time, Chu Yan also engages in fringe activities including but not limited to: devouring 1000-page-long South American literature, collecting maps of fake places and listening to ancient Chinese music from the Tang dynasty.
Chu Yan is truly a main character on and off stage.
RICK TAN
Rick is a first year PPE student. He also has no idea how he ended up in a play, but now that he’s here he is willing to do his best. When not being a xxx (find out for yourself), Rick can either be found at the IOE library doing endless politics readings, at random cities across the UK for debate competitions, or at the gym trying to make his small body look slightly bigger.
MR FOO AS
LILIA LOTFINIA
HARLEY AS
Lilia is neither Singaporean, nor from UCL. She’s in fact an an Iranian-Canadian exchange student coming from McGill University in Montreal. She studies Psychology and Philosophy but has previously done 3 years of Professional Theatre which got ruined by COVID hitting midway.
LOTFINIA HARLEY AS
On the occasion that she is seen on campus, you probably have to yell “HI” ‘cause music with noise-canceling just hits different.
BERNISSA
BERNISSA YEO
TAMMY AS
Bernissa is a first year BA Geography student in UCL who loves and lives theatre (the most logical casting for this UCL SingSoc play).
She once brought back 2 bags worth of rocks from a school trip from Barcelona. However, legends says that she has more rocks than the number of lectures she’s attended. Geography rocks...right??
MEET OUR CREW
MEET OUR CREW
STAGE & NICOLE ZHAO HO SHU HAN HAZEL CHENG HSIN YU
& PROPS
CHUAH YI ZHEN SANJAN SUGANTHAN RACHEL LIM
STAGE &
ALEX TAN
EDMUND NGAN
GABRIELLE KHOO
& PROPS
DENISA TAMI CAMILLE CHONG YING SU MEI
COSTUMES CELINE
RACHEL
CHONG
JING
MA
& MAKEUP CHONG JING
RACHEL SEE
PARTNERSHIPS
KRISTIN JENNIFER VICTORIA SARAH CLAUDIA
& TICKETING
KRISTIN TOH
JENNIFER TAN
VICTORIA TAN
SARAH LIM
CLAUDIA LOW
PARTNERSHIPS
MARKETING FENG JIANING SEAH HE REBECCA XINYU
MARKETING & DESIGN
JIANING HE NING REBECCA KOH XINYU SIA
ADVISORS
DOMINIC KO
ÇAĞRI USTAOĞLU
ADVISORS
ASHLEY NEW
LIGHTS & SOUNDS
WITH SUPPORT FROM:
SU
YING
LIGHTS & SOUNDS
FROM: UCL STAGE CREW SU MEI
Note: the character representations and artistic choices of the play do not necessarily reflect the views of Kalayaan or its service users.
A PRODUCTION BY IN SUPPORT OF IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
DESIGNED BY: ALASTAIR ANG
REBECCA KOH
SEAH HE NING
XINYU SIA
PHOTOGRAPHY:
FENG JIANING
REBECCA KOH
XINYU SIA
YING SU MEI