“When Pigeons Cry” debuted at Pearl Street Warehouse in September 2025 as part of Vagabond’s Sài Gòn By Night Vietnamese heritage celebration. The performance responds to the 50th anniversary of the end of the American War in Vietnam. This performance was previously banned from the Millenium Stage by the Kennedy Center leadership in February of the same year. I also performed in 2026 at UDC through the DC Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs.

I incorporated a video animation on a secondary screen, and for the video recording, I incorporated video elements over the performance.

Pigeons are a metaphor for Queerness to me. They are big iridescent city birds that can easily become invisible in a white dove heralded world. Through the performance, I transform from a dove-passing bird into a self-loving pigeon by accepting all parts of me and as conveyed through the costume reveal. I also threw in ideas around Viet reconciliation with beachballs that have the current and previous Vietnam flags painted on them.

How do we move forward beyond the trauma of war and displacement and not let it fuel this deep grudge? Hope like a lotus in mud is possible after such trauma. The Queer joy of drag felt like the perfect vehicle to share this message.