Many among us probably associate our vision of the sweet singing nun with Maria in “Sound of Music,” but there have been any number of other cinematic Holy women— recall “The Singing Nun” and “The Trouble With Angels.”

And then there were darker ones: “Doubt,” “Agnes of God,” “Black Narcissus.”

“The Divine Sister” by Charles Busch at the Avenue Theatre is based on a look at secret lives of Hollywood’s nuns over the years. (In the original New York production, Busch donned a habit and played the Mother Superior). Christopher Whyde fills those shoes at the Avenue, where we’ve met him in drag on a previous occasion as Angela Arden in Busch’s “Die Mommy Die!”

As we meet Mother Superior, she advises young novice Agnes (Laura Jo Trexler, a Littleton High grad who is headed to Boston soon for MFA study): “My dear, we are living in an era of great social change. We must do everything in our power to stop it.”

Melodramatic Agnes is given to visions and healing miracles, which her superior discourages, being a straightforward type. Are those cherries or stigmata?

Next we meet the wackily headressed, somewhat sinister Sister Walburga (the skilled and very funny Rhonda Brown) and the more recent “Da Vinci Code” comes to mind, with talk of codes and conspiracies. Her cohort is the ancient Brother Venerius (Josh Hartnell, who also plays Jeremy, a figure out of Sisters’ past, who wants to make a movie about Agnes).

Sister Acacius (McPherson Hoyle) shares the Mother Superior’s concern about their decrepit school, which they’d like to replace. To that end the two sisters go to visit wealthy Mrs. Levinson to request a donation and we learn about her backstory . Trisha Magness plays this part and that of a baseball-playing boy named Timothy.

Everyone has a story or more. Pay attention and enjoy.

One just needs to be there to try to work out the puzzles. Mature language is not appropriate for the youngest theater lovers.