It’s been over six years since John M. Chu brought to life Kevin Kwan’s world of Crazy, Rich Asians. The 2013 book (and Chu’s 2018 film) depicted a side of Singapore that many of us hadn’t seen: a world of extreme wealth, where luxury and material possessions were the only marks of success and status the only valuable currency. But this world has an underside – one rife with desperation, gang violence, abandoned children, alcoholism and organised crime.

It’s this world that inspired playwright and performer Merlynn Tong’s Golden Blood. Based on the many “potent characters she encountered in her teens”, the acclaimed play, which was shortlisted for both Victorian and NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, premiered in Griffin Theatre’s 2022 Season and is being remounted at Sydney Theatre Company before it heads to Melbourne in October.

Charles Wu and Merlynn Tong in Golden Blood. Photo © Prudence Upton

A simple digital sign introduces Girl (Merlynn Tong) and her estranged older brother Boy (Charles Wu) aged 14 and 21 respectively. The play follows them for the next seven years as they go from negotiating their living situation to throwing house parties,...