Project Title
Divine Intervention: A Solo Performance
Faculty Mentor(s) Name(s)
Amy Pinney
Abstract
Despite her penchant for the revolting, the drag artist Divine is often only remembered for the child-friendly characters she inspired like Edna from Hairspray and Ursula from The Little Mermaid. Divine encompassed far too many multitudes to have such a narrow legacy. As John Waters’ muse, she performed outrageous acts and refused to hide her identity. Some members of the LGBTQIA+ community condemned the queen of counter-culture out of fear that she was confirming straight folks’ stereotypical suspicions of queer people’s perversion; however, Divine’s unrelenting star quality only proved that the LGBTQIA+ community is not a monolith and that straight assimilation is far from the definitive goal. To gain a three-dimensional understanding of Divine as a person, the solo performance includes quotes from John Waters, Mink Stole, activists, critics, fans, and Divine herself. Through this performance, I hope to capture Divine’s simultaneously loud and quiet influence on our culture.
Divine Intervention: A Solo Performance
Despite her penchant for the revolting, the drag artist Divine is often only remembered for the child-friendly characters she inspired like Edna from Hairspray and Ursula from The Little Mermaid. Divine encompassed far too many multitudes to have such a narrow legacy. As John Waters’ muse, she performed outrageous acts and refused to hide her identity. Some members of the LGBTQIA+ community condemned the queen of counter-culture out of fear that she was confirming straight folks’ stereotypical suspicions of queer people’s perversion; however, Divine’s unrelenting star quality only proved that the LGBTQIA+ community is not a monolith and that straight assimilation is far from the definitive goal. To gain a three-dimensional understanding of Divine as a person, the solo performance includes quotes from John Waters, Mink Stole, activists, critics, fans, and Divine herself. Through this performance, I hope to capture Divine’s simultaneously loud and quiet influence on our culture.