Premiered at the National Museum of Australia, April 2022
Concert blurb:
Experience Agapi & Other Kinds of Love by renowned Greek-Australian poet and rapper Luka Lesson. Accompanied by cinematic scores and hip-hop numbers composed by Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s James Humberstone, this soulful performance will ignite your heart.
National Museum of Australia
Agapi & Other Kinds of Love tells the story of Socrates and his mysterious lover, Diotima. Inspired by his heritage, Luka takes the audience on a journey from ancient to modern-day Athens and shows us how love prevails despite the trials and tribulations of the ages.
In 2023, we are recording the album of the show, and hopefully lining up a tour. You can already buy Luka’s beautiful book version of the story (seen on the left) here. Luka writes:
Based on Plato’s The Symposium, Agapi & Other Kinds of Love is a Modern Hip-hop Opera embedded in the Ancient Greek storytelling tradition.
Greek-Australian poet and rap artist Luka Lesson’s reputation as one of Australia’s best storytellers shines as he takes us on a journey through the Ancient Greek kinds of love.
Agapi & Other Kinds of Love begins with Socrates telling a banquet of friends everything he learned from a mysterious lover named: Diotima. The gods then take us on a journey – collapsing time and space to arrive in modern day Athens, where the two reincarnations of the Ancient lovers fall in love (again) in the midst of a riot.
Self-love, erotic love and familial love all collide with statues of Aphrodite, Molotov cocktails and the Parthenon steps.
Agapi & Other Kinds of Love shows us how love prevails despite the trials and tribulations of the ages.
Here are some short excerpts from the premiere performances. Greta Kelly played violin, Shah Kaman, Theremini, and drum, and Ella Fence played synthesisers, samples, and laptop. Both musicians sing.
James Humberstone 