'Professor' Cu Trong Xoay reveals 'secret' after 12 years of writing Tao Quan script

Dinh Tien Dung and artist Chi Trung.

Not a performing artist, Dinh Tien Dung is known as one of the writers of the Tao Quan script for many years.

On his personal page, "Professor Xoay" expressed his regret and shock upon hearing the news that the Tao Quan 2020 program had stopped production.

He wrote: “Being far away, I was shocked to hear that there would be no more Tao Quan this year. Normally, at the beginning of November, the director would invite me out to eat and drink, and would give me sweet encouragement... This year, even after Teachers' Day, I still didn't receive an invitation to eat. I thought he had someone else, but unexpectedly, the budget for this year's meal was not approved...”.

After 12 years of participating in writing the script for Tao Quan, Dinh Tien Dung recalls: “Twelve years, a whole cycle has passed with Tao Quan, it’s not a lot, but it’s enough to feel familiar every time Tet comes. Every year the process is the same. In early November, we get to go out to eat, if we still haven’t come up with anything, we go out to eat again, there were years when we ate 4 meals and the scriptwriters still couldn’t think of anything, the director went out to light a cigarette…

Once I had an idea, I was no longer invited to dinner, but instead received phone calls to share ideas, regardless of day or night, rain or shine. Many calls lasted half an hour, and I couldn't remember them all.

Next comes the stage of urging, cursing, threatening, and sulking that keeps me from being at peace until the script is submitted. I will have about 2 days to rest (because it takes the director 2 days to read that pile of words), then polite compliments, then sincere scolding, then detailing what is not good, what is not good, revising, rewriting... It feels like a student being instructed bit by bit by a strict teacher. After many years, I realize that this is the stage where I gain the most experience to improve my scriptwriting skills.

Once the script is finished, the director sinks into days of exhaustion with the actors. I finish my task, and I am left like a harvested rice field waiting for the next crop. Until the day of the performance, it is my turn to be sweet and sulky in all sorts of ways to ask the director for tickets. How miserable.

To make Tao Quan is the effort of the whole team from the scriptwriter, director, and actors.

Twelve years, I consider myself a graduate of Tao Quan High School. Thank you, homeroom teacher Do Thanh Hai, for selecting, instructing, and guiding me throughout the past 12 years of study. Thank you, classmates, for working together so effectively with mutual respect. Tao Quan has taught me many things, including accepting a predictable failure, enduring criticism, and focusing on doing my best in my duties.

Tao Quan gives me the feeling of being part of a team full of wonderful people, and besides work, I also have a very close bond with my fellow artists. Even though we are far apart, we always remember each other every time there is a show.

So I've graduated, should I go to vocational school or continue studying screenwriting at university? I'm a little confused. But right now I feel relieved, it's done. No more sleepless days of doing "final exams". I'm far away from my teachers and school.

Up to now, the news of stopping the production of Tao Quan 2020 has left many artists disappointed and regretful. According to many sources, there will be a new, attractive replacement program during the Tao Quan broadcast time slot, but the VFC representative has not officially revealed it.