Sharing with Lao Dong reporter about her absence from Tao Quan 2024 when the program was surrounded by pressure to innovate from the script, the way of performing to the long-time cast, artist Van Dung said: “I have never left Tao Quan, never thought of saying goodbye, even when I did not participate in the program. For me personally, Tao Quan has been my home, my family - where I can contribute, work with co-stars, colleagues who are as familiar as family. Tao Quan is a big mark in my career, becoming a part of my life, a part of the journey I have gone through. In 2024, I and the veteran Tao cast did not participate because we wanted to give the young artists a chance to show themselves. “Old bamboo shoots grow” - that is an inevitable rule. The young artists need time to challenge themselves, to improve and shine.
With Tao Quan, the audience always has many conflicting opinions, some people demand innovation, and some people want to keep the old Tao cast. We make Tao Quan like we make a hundred families. The important thing is that we always listen and always appreciate all the compliments and criticisms from the audience, to absorb and improve. For us, just the audience turning on the TV on New Year's Eve to watch Tao Quan - that is already a priceless gift."
According to artist Van Dung, Tao Quan has good years and bad years, but above all, the production team always strives and tries their best to make the program the best it can be, to bring laughter to the audience before the new year.
Tao Quan 2025 has a script revolving around "hot" issues such as mergers and streamlining personnel at Thien Dinh. Veteran Taos such as Giao Thong Tao (Chi Trung), Xa Hoi Tao (Tu Long), Health Tao (Van Dung), and Kinh Te Tao (Quang Thang), who have worked at Thien Dinh for decades, are worried that they will be replaced and "left out" when merging ministries and branches.
The "seat fighting" and "seat keeping" scenes of the Tao cast are considered the most powerful highlights of Tao Quan 2025.
Tao Quan 2025 is divided into chapters similar to the stage genre, each chapter has a different content. The opening is the celebration of the victory of the Thien Dinh football team winning the championship in a regional tournament, chapter 2 revolves around the Thien Loi team with "trendy" dialogues about gold prices, "following the peak", "holding gold"... throughout the past year when the gold market fluctuated.
The final part invested in the script with the veteran Tao cast facing big changes. The competition for seats and the "Road to the Heavenly Palace" contest to select talented people for Heaven brought many deep satirical laughs to the audience.
However, there are also opinions that the script of Tao Quan 2025 creates a big gap between the veteran Tao cast and the young artists. Many characters of young artists have little screen time, while Tao cast such as Van Dung, Quang Thang, Tu Long have a large screen time, many lines with messages.
Artist Van Dung said, “For us, being able to participate in Tao Quan is a great joy and pride. The nature of the acting profession in general is also very collective. In a play or a movie, the roles are all mutually supportive. We do not care about the main role or supporting role, small role or big role, many or few roles, the important thing is the right role, the connection between the characters to help the work achieve the best effect. Tao Quan is the same. We are a close-knit group, loving and respecting each other, each role has an equally important role in Tao Quan.
I believe that, as an actor, how long you stand on stage is not important, what is important is what you leave for the audience.
