Dale Smith’s Divine/Intervention suggests that the iconic actress made famous through John Waters’ films, gulping down dog excrement and singing trashy disco was the Mr. Hyde-like creation of a Glenn Milstead (Ryan Walter), who on the last night of his life must face the fact that he might have lost all control over his creature. As Milstead dreams of becoming a “serious character actor”, all that people around him see is Divine and in the show we see both characters come face to face and engage in a vicious battle that would make Edward Albee hide for protection.

As played by Bobby Goodrich, Divine is a voracious creature who refuses to let go of her dreams, which are completely independent from Milstead’s. She spits venom relentlessly and makes Glenn feel like an inferior being that would be nothing without her. While she seems overjoyed in exerting her power over him, we see how afraid she is of being forgotten in a scene where she decides to destroy a small-town drag queen (Terrell Green) just because she sees competition. Goodrich undeniably brings the house down with a larger than life performance that highlights why the world loved the transgressive Divine.

Walter’s Milstead on the other side shows us a man unsure of what he wants, we see him over explaining himself to everyone and allowing vice and self-loathing to seduce him. It’s a heartbreaker of a performance, made all the more touching because we want to reach out to him and help out. Directed by Braden Chapman and featuring inventive set design by Mark A. Dahl, Divine/Intervention is only unsuccessful when it allows itself to be too overindulgent, the script often seems to lack purpose, and it keeps going around in circles rather than trying to make a point. “I don’t speak unless you open your mouth” hollers Divine at Glenn, and one can’t help but wish the show had similarly edited itself slightly, Divine would've known better than to beat around the bush so much.