In a work that is equal parts rap concert, poetic musical and classical history lesson, composer James Humberstone and slam poet and rapper Luka Lesson have combined ancient poetry and modern hip-hop to explore every aspect of love.

Staged in the Riverside Theatres, Parramatta Agapi & Other Kinds of Love is inspired by the Greek word Αγάπη. It reminds us that love prevails, despite the trials and tribulations of the ages.

Artist Luka Lesson performs Agapi & Other Kinds of Love. Photo supplied

“Agapi is universal love,” Lesson explains. “Agapi is that which binds the universe together. It’s what makes up every cell of our bodies. Eros, on the other hand, is a romantic kind of love. This is making love, this is flirtations, this is all of the good sweaty stuff.”

Based on Plato’s The Symposium, Agapi and Other Kinds of Love begins with Socrates telling a banquet of friends everything he learned from a mysterious lover, Diotima. From there the audience on a time and space-collapsing journey to modern day Athens, where the two reincarnations of the Ancient lovers fall in love (again) – this time in the middle of...