About
Nitin Vengurlekar as Neville Unbrellaman
Sabrina Chan D’Angelo as Sabrina
Alison Bennett as Yvette
Teik-Kim Pok as Kenneth Wong
Joyce Edmonds as Mum
Peter Gizariotis as Terry
The Lonely Spirits Variety Hour
Synopsis
When verbose radio host Neville Umbrellaman lands in hospital, a group of unexpected performers crash his show The Lonely Spirits Variety Hour. Rabindranath Chakraborty, known as Neville Umbrellaman to his loyal listeners hosts the late night variety show from an eclectic studio built in his parent’s garage. Along with guests Neville shares existential musings & spins all the best public domain hits.
After waking up with a headache Rabindranath suddenly finds himself in hospital. During the anxious wait for clarity and results, Neville's live show must stay on air, so an eccentric guest list help complete the variety line up. This includes folk singer Kenneth Wong, Rabindranath's crush Sabrina D’Angelo, Terry the neighbour, local French baker Yvette and jazz band Freddy Nietchze’s Good-time Bee-Bop Quintet. There will be no rehearsals.
Inspiration
This film is adapted from Nitin Vengurlekar’s incredible theatre show The Lonely Spirits Variety Hour. This wonderfully absurdist comedy drew inspiration from both Jacques Tati and Spike Milligan and was a rare gem in Australia’s cultural landscape. The stage play premiered at Sydney’s Bankstown Arts Centre and then played The Griffin Theatre.
