REVIEW: CONGRATULATIONS, GET RICH! Is Merlynn Tong’s Heartwarming And Hilarious Singaporean Chinese Ghost Story.

Tuesday 25th November 2025, 7:30pm, Wharf 1 Theatre, Walsh Bay Sydney

Merlynn Tong’s (Playwright and Performer) latest work, CONGRATULATIONS, GET RICH! is a fabulous musical comedy that centres on Singaporean Chinese culture.  Anchored in Merlynn’s personal history, this is a work that is presented with humour and heart that has fun with the culture of her ancestors while still honouring it. 

Mandy (Tong), a 38 year old Australian Singaporean Chinese woman is fulfilling her dream of opening a Karaoke club, Money Money Karaoke, and the audience is witnessing the events that unfold on opening night which she has timed to be able feature as “Opening Night: Seventh Night of Chinese New Year aka Human Day Extravaganza”.  While loyal business partner and boyfriend Xavier (Zac Boulton) is beside her, supporting her with a ready supply of ‘dad jokes’ Mandy is getting more and more disheartened that her new venture is doomed as its 9:30pm and no one has ventured out in the storm to try out various themed rooms she has created.  She starts to feel that 38 will be her year of failure with the number holding negative connotations in Chinese and for her own ancestry until a mysterious guest arrives, and then another, who she recognises as her long dead mother (Seong Hui Xuan), and it soon becomes clear that the first guest is her grandmother, the hip and badass “G-Ma” (Kimie Tsukakoshi). 

Tong has drawn heavily on the aspects of Chinese culture that relate to ancestors and pleasing them or else they will become restless, unable to satisfy their ‘hunger’.  Tong has artfully written the work to incorporate elements of the cultural rituals without being explicit in their explanation so there are layers to the humour and those with a greater awareness get to see their culture on stage without having it explained or derided for the amusement of the gweilo as other playwrights have done to satisfy a western audience.  The inclusion of Xavier as the only non-Chinese character, naive to the traditions, also highlights the quirks of the culture as he innocently presents oranges to eat and a birthday cake with a double reinforcement of the age Mandy is turning.  She has captured the energy of the Singaporean Chinese maternal figures, from the “Tiger Mother” style of continuous demand for excellence from their offspring to a fierce protective love and a degree of over-the-top drama.  Given the story centres on Mandy new business, there are of course songs and Mum and G-Ma deliver most of them as they try to connect with Mandy even though, through their power of paranormal magic, they break her unusual rules for the club of no dancing and no group singing. 

Designer James Lew has created a very Chinese space as the Karaoke room dedicated to a more traditional aesthetic than the unseen but referenced Winter Wonderland room and other theme rooms Mandy promotes.  Four bench seats, covered in red vinyl upholstery line the walls of the square space while a central podium serves as the focal point for the singer and a large television is mounted in the rear wall.  Lucky Cats, firecrackers and a money tree reinforce the venue’s name while the Chinese lucky colour red dominates the colour scheme.  For the costuming Lew has Mandy in a blend of formal and casual with combat boots while her ancestors attire reflects their character rather than their heritage.  G-Ma is in Leopard print top and leather pants while Mum is in pink sparkling mini dress echoing G-Ma’s tough persona and Mum’s fashion conscious label loving style.

This work is captivating and brilliantly comic with a clever script that brings in some brilliant wordplay and cultural references.  The songs are written with the vibrancy and ‘pop’ to make it plausible that they are karaoke hits while still serving the storyline.  There is a brilliant balance of the absurd and the suspenseful, enhanced by Gabriel Chan’s lighting design and Guy Webster’s compositions and sound design.  Even though it is clear based on the style of the work that there is more gags than ghostliness, the sound effects make for an eerie work as classic horror soundtrack elements are utilised. 

CONGRATULATIONS, GET RICH! is a fun piece of multilayered theatre that beneath the ridiculousness, traditions, superstitions and music lies a more serious consideration of the power of traumas passed from one generation to the next as each woman is fighting for their own survival, often forgetting the power of maternal connection. 

Congratulations, Get Rich! - Sydney Theatre Company

Photos: Prudence Upton

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