Shariba Rivers (she/her) is a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native but has called Chicago home for 19 years, living in South Shore for 16 years and currently residing in Auburn Gresham. Shariba moved to Chicago to work at Betty Shabazz Academy so that she could return to teaching after having caught the bug for teaching at her mother’s school, Sankofa Shule. She’d spent the previous few years in administration at Fort Valley State University and Medgar Evers College. Several years in the classroom (and instructional coaching and administration) passed, and somewhere in those years, another bug bit Shariba: The Acting Bug.
Shariba had done everything she was expected to do by all societal and familial norms, but she still felt that she had not done everything she was supposed to do for herself. She had turned into a soccer mom and—no shade to soccer moms—that was just not in her plans. Having grown up surrounded by the arts (Shariba was a dancer, played piano, and wrote poetry) she was missing that part of herself in Chicago, so she set out to find it. She looked up acting sites and found an agency that was holding an open call. She went. They told her she had what it took. To be fair, she says they probably told everybody that, but she believed them and started taking the individual classes and seminars that were offered.
After landing her first reviewed production with Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company, she snagged her first agent and never looked back. Over the next several years, she appeared on stages (where she says she feels most comfortable) almost year-round and has continued to find immeasurable joy in the entire process of bringing a play to life. She loves working on new productions, from devised works to workshopping and staged readings, and is always fascinated by the final product—a love that was fostered by her company, MPAACT (a company that has produced new work for, by, and about people of the African Diaspora for over 30 years).
For a long time, Shariba felt like she was playing “catch up” with her acting career since she started much later than most, but the past few years have been incredible reminders that her hard work is paying off. She was recently featured in “The People Issue” of The Chicago Reader, listed by NewCity Stage as one of the top 50 people who performed in Chicago in 2023, and recently featured in MPAACT’s Listen Magazine.
Shariba has been seen on TV and film. She is an award-winning voice actor for her role as Lilian Harper in the BBC award-winning audio drama, Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery, and every now and again, she dabbles in writing. She looks forward to new opportunities to create and play and discover and continue this lifelong journey of self-actualization.
Washer Woman, 2022.
Image by Abboyé Lawrence.
Featured Artworks
The October Storm, 2023
Raven Theatre
Notes From the Field, 2024
TimeLine Theatre
Jeff Awards nomination announcement, 2024.
Review grab for The October Storm at Raven Theatre, 2023.
The October Storm at Raven Theatre. Nominated for Equity Jeff Award for Performer in a Principal Role
Wiletta prepares, 2023.
Trouble in Mind, TimeLine Theatre, backstage waiting for places. Nominated for Equity Jeff Award for Performer in a Principal Role.
Image by Adam Shalzi.