Expected
Standing in front of the lobby of the Vietnam-Soviet Friendship Cultural Palace on the evening of January 16, Ms. Hong hurriedly asked for black market ticket prices from the ticket scalpers who were “circling” around the large yard. Ms. Hong wanted to buy a pair of tickets to take her parents to watch the Tao Quan recording night, because her parents really liked the show.
“I work at a partner company of VTV so I was given a ticket to watch the night recording on January 16. I want to buy 2 more tickets to take my parents to watch. My whole family is a fan of Tao Quan, my parents like it because the program deals with hot issues of ministries and sectors, and I like it because it is my childhood and youth. The ticket price is quite high, I will wait until after 8pm, when the program starts recording, the ticket price will decrease. This is a rule I have learned after many years of watching Tao Quan,” said Ms. Hong.
Ms. Hong's mother stood inside the lobby waiting for her daughter. She is in her 70s, but still expressed her joy and excitement when she braved the cold wind to come here to watch the live recording of Tao Quan. She shared with reporters, "I really like Tao Quan. I have been watching for many years. They have written profound scripts, interwoven with laughter are messages about hot issues such as corruption, bribery, traffic, education, health care... all of which are of great interest to the people. Coming to watch live like this is much more impressive than watching it on TV on New Year's Eve."
Tao Quan started out as a television drama program, airing since 2003 and is now considered a brand with a record "lifespan".
Tao Quan's script gives an overview of the past year with its shortcomings and backlogs in many ministries and sectors. For many years, Tao Quan has created laughter and satire with hot issues such as corruption, bribery, traffic jams, long-stalled projects, ineffective education reform... The familiar issues of people's livelihood, which are of interest to a large audience, when conveyed through a humorous lens, have created great attraction for the program.
Because of this, Tao Quan has many expectations placed on its shoulders. As Meritorious Artist Chi Trung said, “After many years on air, Tao Quan suddenly became an anti-corruption program. Tao Quan has to wear a very large shirt. We - the producers - just want to make a program that brings laughter and joy, looking back at the past year and looking forward to the coming year. We do not have any expectations, we do not think that after Tao Quan - traffic will improve, or corruption will no longer exist. That is an impossible task. I hope the audience will watch Tao Quan with the mindset of watching a television program, with details to laugh about, and also details to think about... just like that”.
What's in Tao Quan 2025?
After many years of facing controversies surrounding the old script, old cast, old message... Tao Quan struggled to innovate but could not regain the attraction it once had.
Tao Quan 2025 returns with a familiar cast of artists who have been on air for 20 years, along with many new faces. The veteran artists playing the roles of Traffic God, Health God, Economic God... must face challenges when Thien Dinh re-plans the "Apple garden", merges Apples, streamlines personnel...
Many tragicomedies arise when the veteran Tao cast still wants to "keep their seats", "keep their places", they frantically look for ways to avoid having to... retire.
The script for Tao Quan 2025 is considered to have a lot of material for staging. Maintaining the strength of satire and criticism, the script for Tao Quan 2025 has highlights, deep laughter, and stories to ponder.
Talking to Lao Dong reporter, Meritorious Artist Chi Trung said: “We have faced controversy and pressure for many years, so we know that it is very difficult to please all the audience. There will be audiences who demand more innovation, and there will be audiences who say that we must keep the same actors... In fact, before the audience felt old, we ourselves realized that we were old. Before the audience demanded innovation, we ourselves longed to innovate every year. The production crew, in each department, from the script, director to the cast, worked all month long, practicing day and night, editing the script little by little, updating the script every day... Indeed, we always strive, try our best with Tao Quan, the rest belongs to the audience. I hope that this year's Tao Quan 2025 will bring laughter and reflection to the audience on New Year's Eve, so that we can look back and look forward to a good new year together."
