It has been a year of transition for Sydney Theatre Company, and Congratulations, Get Rich is the last show in their 2025 season. A collaboration with La Boite Theatre in Brisbane and Singapore Repertory Theatre alongside STC, this is the latest production from emerging playwright Merlynn Tong, who teams up with director Courtney Stewart to deliver a loosely autobiographical story about generational dynamics, grief and a haunting trend of suicides within a karaoke-loving family.

The show is set in a karaoke bar where Mandy, played by Tong herself, and her boyfriend Xavier (Zac Boulton) have unsuccessfully attempted to celebrate Mandy’s 38th birthday. Mandy wants to pretend that her birthday is not happening, since it marks the year both her grandmother and her mother committed suicide. The play then morphs into a ghost story when the ghosts of Mandy’s mother (Seong Hui Xuan) and grandmother (Kimie Tsukakoshi) enter to provide her with some advice on how to manage her failing karaoke bar. What follows is a song-filled and slightly Machiavellian night, which reveals all of Mandy’s insecurities and trauma as she comes to terms with the lives and loss of her mother and grandmother.

First, for a definitional aside, it is immediately quite striking how much this play feels more like a musical (or at least a parody of a musical) rather than straight theatre, with karaoke of varying skill levels being littered through the production. Given this, it would perhaps enhance the performance if there were a live band supporting the action on stage. One can only hope that as this play continues to develop and its budget increases, that provision for a live band can be made, as it would really enhance the show and the ambiance.

The premise of the show itself is slightly unusual and a bit confusing, but after some time adjusting to the cadence and nuance of the story, the emotional weight of the production begins to be felt. Towards the end of the show, Mandy’s character has a very intense, powerful and introspective moment that marks the play’s dramatic apex and this is when the play is at its strongest, displaying its themes at their most serious and unashamedly tackling the accompanying trauma and grief. 

Tong tries to balance out the seriousness of the subject matter with humour and although some of the dad jokes made by Xavier are very funny and get a good laugh from the crowd, this mixture of jokes with deeply serious subject matter sometimes feels disjointed and cheapens the more weighty moments in the production. In this vein, the ending of the play also feels a little contrived and disconnected from the pervasive and gripping tone of the half-hour that precedes it.

The set and sound design in this production are truly wonderful, with James Lew providing a gloriously decadent karaoke bar, with the use of the TV screen at the end of the production being most remarkable and incredibly innovative. Gabriel Chan’s lighting design also combines extremely well with the set design in the pivotal moments, really adding to the drama and the ambiance while sound designer Guy Webster also does a good job of conveying the humour with slapstick sound effects, which are in keeping with the genre. Courtney Stewart’s directing in this production is fantastic and she really brings out the pain that all the characters feel. In this respect, the acting is also incredibly strong, with the audience really connecting with everyone on stage as they deliver their performances with the poise one would expect of seasoned karaoke performers but with  hidden darkness lingering below them. The production is rich with culturally specific symbolism and imagery, which adds depth as well as context that is helpful for the audience. While the idioms might be quite foreign for some, they are well contextualised and woven smoothly into the production.

Overall, this is an interesting and unique production that conveys extremely heavy themes and explores them with seriousness, drama and poignancy that give real emotional weight to the subject matter. At times the play feels disjointed and the balance between humour and the serious themes is a little off, but overall this is an intriguing work and one which has truly enriched Sydney Theatre Company’s 2025 season. Now, for the next time this show runs, it’s time for the live band!

Rating: ★★★★

Congratulations, Get Rich plays at the Wharf 1 Theatre until 14 December. For more information, click here. 

All photo credits: Prudence Upton