Syncopated tells the story of Him, a music student from London, and Her, a young Liverpudlian discovering each other beneath the shadow of the city and unearthing the hidden Black history of the Southern Syncopated Orchestra, the original jazz pioneer.
As the couple connect, they begin to sense history’s echoes when two figures from the past lead them on a journey of personal discovery – a trip into the revolutionary Black sound that took the world, and their own lives, by storm.
Love stories can happen anywhere. In the present or the past, in the head or the heart. Could this be the start of something new, or are they stuck repeating another love story from a hundred years earlier?
Varaidzo is a writer, editor and artist. Previous writing credits include: Bus Stop (2018, shortlisted for The Guardian and 4th Estate 4thWrite Prize); The Good Immigrant (2016); Who’s Loving You (2021) and Manny and the Baby (2024), which was shortlisted for The Jhalak Prose Prize in 2025.
Directed by Manchester-based Tian Glasgow (STUN x Lowry Associate Artist award-winner for Tomorrow is Not Promised; Threshold, Royal Exchange Theatre), Syncopated weaves past and present, real and imagined, love and legacy to honour a lost history and a living present.
Syncopated runs at the Playhouse Studio from Tuesday 23 September to Saturday 4 October. Tickets are £12.50 and available at www.everymanplayhouse.com/