According to Stefo Nantsou, director of Leviathan, the theatrical collaboration between Hurstville City Council and the Sydney Theatre Company, there are at least 12, depending on how you divide Australia's relatively short history.

Nantsou describes a colourfully iced, layered "cake", with the First Fleet on the bottom, followed by the free settlers who came after the convict fleet; the Chinese arrived next, along with the government's White Australia Policy.

The £10 Poms were joined by post-World War II refugees from Europe; the Whitlam era brought in Vietnamese and more Chinese; the 1980s had a lot of people from South America and the South Pacific; the 1990s brought Bosnians and others from the fragmented old Yugoslavia; the Howard era was marked by waves of Arabs, and the most recent layer is made up of Indians.

Nantsou, a Macedonian Australian, is a product of the post-World War II boom era from Europe.

A director with Sydney Theatre Company, he adapted John Birmingham's Leviathan — the Unauthorised Biography of Sydney, to create an exuberant stage celebration of Sydney's rich immigration history.

Many community arts groups from southern and western Sydney are taking part in the singing and the dancing.

Between everyone having a lot of fun, the play raises questions about the nature of an immigrant society.

Nantsou points out that the cycles are essentially similar, in that everyone comes to Australia for a better life, and the most recent newcomers tend to be feared and resented by the previous waves.

There had always been arguments about population, the Asian invasion and boat people, he said.

Leviathan opens at Hurstville Entertainment Centre at 7pm this Saturday, September 18, with a second session at 3pm, on Sunday, September 19.

Bookings: trybooking.com or 9330 6084.