Theatre worker aims to be musical star in Meredith Hambrock's dark satire She's a Lamb!

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 19, 2025 6:49 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Meredith Hambrock's acheronian satire She's a Lamb! chronicles the communicative of a philharmonic theatre idiosyncratic who aims to beryllium a prima herself — partially based connected the author's ain experience working arsenic a theatre usher successful Vancouver.

Hambrock is simply a novelist and tv writer from Saskatoon. Her story You Should Go Over There was longlisted for the 2016 CBC Short Story Prize. She is besides the writer of the novel Other People's Secrets, and her latest book, She's a Lamb!, released past week.

It follows Jessamyn St. Germain, who's tasked with supervising the children playing roles in a theatre production of The Sound of Music.

But St. Germain has overmuch loftier ambitions, and the caller chronicles her travel arsenic she tries to contiguous herself arsenic a prima connected the rise, with her tendency for thing more coming up against radical who are trying to enactment her down.

LISTEN | Hambrock speaks to the CBC's Margaret Gallagher: 

For Hambrock, the travel of St. Germain parallels immoderate of her ain experiences erstwhile she worked arsenic an usher for the Arts Club Theatre Company successful Vancouver during a accumulation of The Sound of Music.

"It's a truly large spot to work," the novelist told Margaret Gallagher, the big of CBC's North by Northwest, connected Saturday.

"But I was benignant of besieged by this fearfulness that I would ne'er beryllium capable to execute what I wanted to execute arsenic a writer, that I wasn't susceptible of it."

Hambrock says she saw during her clip determination however actors could beryllium rejected for roles implicit things beyond their power — specified arsenic their voice, assemblage oregon wherever they travel from. 

The writer adds that her protagonist truly wants to elevate different people's lives and experiences, and sees herself arsenic a beauteous pistillate who tin marque it happen — and she yearns for others to admit that.

While penning St. Germain, Hambrock says it was enjoyable to dip into a quality who was hopeless to beryllium seen, though she said the publication was not a diary.

"I deliberation I americium a precise polite person, I think, oregon astatine slightest I effort to beryllium kind," she said.

"Descending into the caput of idiosyncratic who has benignant of fto their ambition regularisation implicit everything, who has truly benignant of retreated into their ego, and is letting that benignant of instrumentality the wheel — I deliberation [it] was very, you know, sometimes amusive for me, sometimes precise dark."

Parallels to The Sound of Music

Hambrock, who works arsenic a drama writer for TV productions, says she is capable to scratch an itch for writing big, melodramatic plots done her books.

She besides acknowledges the parallels her main quality has to Maria, the protagonist of The Sound of Music. The title She's a Lamb! refers to a enactment from 1 of the movie's songs.

In that film, starring Julie Andrews, Maria is sent to beryllium a governess for the children of a naval officer, a relation she initially resents.

"Also for [St. Germain], she sees this arsenic a downgrade," Hambrock says of her character's theatre job.

"You know, she wants to beryllium the star. She doesn't privation to be, like, picking up granola barroom wrappers and, like, telling kids wherever the bath is and worldly similar that."

Hambrock besides says the caller explores the relation of patriarchy, and taking power of one's quest for fame.

She's a Lamb! is retired present and is published by ECW Press.