SHARIBA RIVERS is the proud recipient of the 2024 3Arts Stan Lipkin & Evelyn Appell Lipkin Award
Shariba is a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native but has called Chicago home for more than 20 years. Although she started acting later in her life, the past few years have been incredible reminders that her hard work is paying off. She was featured in “The People Issue” of The Chicago Reader in 2023, named by NewCity Stage as one of the top 50 people who performed for Chicago in 2023, featured in MPAACT’s Listen Magazine in 2024, listed again in NewCity Stage's Players 50: 2025, and is featured in MPAACT's Podcast Plays ICONS series. Shariba has been seen on TV and film. She has been nominated several times for her work on stage and film, is an award-winning voice actor for her role as Lilian Harper in the BBC award-winning audiodrama, Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery, and every now and again, she dabbles in writing and assistant directing. Shariba is a proud member of MPAACT, PlayGround-Chicago, SAG-AFTRA, and AEA.
UP NEXT: Filming for Block Party begins in June.
Julian Schultz hates the block party—it’s where everything in his life went awry. But when he returns home after his father’s unexpected death, the neighbors expect his family to take over. Teaming up with his sister, Lisa, and daughter, Zoe, he has one long, hot day to pull off the party he never wanted—and maybe get a second chance at the love he never got over.
Awards & Recognition
- Players 50 2025: Theater, Newcity Stage
- 2024 3Arts / Stan Lipkin & Evelyn Appell Lipkin Award winner
- 2024 Equity Jeff Award nominee, Ensemble - Play, The Nacirema Society..., Goodman Theatre
- 2024 Equity Jeff Award nominee, Performer in a supporting role, Actor 2, Notes from the Field, TimeLine Theatre
- Chicago Reader, People issue. Shariba Rivers: The Reinventor
- 2023 Equity Jeff Award nominee, Performer in a principal role, Mrs. Elkins, The October Storm, Raven Theatre
- 2023 Equity Jeff Award nominee, Performer in a principal role, Wiletta Mayer, Trouble in Mind, TimeLine Theatre
- 2023 Newcity Stage, Players 2023
- 2022 Best of the Midwest Awards nominee, Smoking Gun!
- 2022 BTAA nominee, Sweat
- 2021 BBC Award, Best Podcast, Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery
- 2020-21 B. Iden Payne Awards nominee, The Spin
- 2020 BTAA nominee, Hoodoo Love
- 2020 Jeff Award nominee, Hoodoo Love
- 2019 AudioVerse Award Winner, Best Performance of a leading role, Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery
- 2018 Jeff Award nominee (ensemble), Insurrection: Holding History