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- THE TASTERS--Rivers turns in such a spectacular performance as the leader of the rebellion, captured by the government and forced to be a taster. Stoic, passionate, sly and caring, it’s hard to see how anyone could turn down the powerhouse leader that is Rivers’ Elyse. --Jerald Pierce, Chicago Tribune
- THE TASTERS--Rivers’ Elyse has unmistakable, irresistible authority. There’s no flash or once-more-into-the-breach heroics, yet it’s clear Elyse is a charismatic warrior who could lead armies through the very gates of hell. --Catey Sullivan, Chicago Sun Times
- THE TASTERS--The actors portraying the trio of tasters dig deeply into their roles’ backstory and situation, producing characters that are intense, layered and plausible within the story’s context. Pereira’s ultimately traumatized and disillusioned Corrine and Rivers’ commanding yet vulnerable Elyse are rounded, compelling personalities. --Hugh Iglarsh, Newcity Stage
- THE TASTERS--Elyse is played with strength and cool bravado by the always marvelous Shariba Rivers (“Hoodoo Love” at Raven)....another excellent performance from Shariba Rivers --Colin Douglas, Chicago Theatre Review
- THE TASTERS--Rivers electrifies, even silently, as she shifts her focus inwards or out. --Amy Munice, Picture This Post
- HOODOO LOVE--Shariba Rivers steals the show as Candylady, the village elder who has outlived 5 husbands, slavery, and the limitations of others. Rivers plays the part with gutsy and unapologetic gusto, bringing constant belly laughs while exploring hard truths about relationships, human nature, and her own limitations. She serves not only as a spiritual guide, but also as a satirical foil for mocking the shortcomings of religion. --Sheri Flanders, Perform Ink
- HOODOO LOVE--Shariba Rivers is a total triumph as Candylady. The kind of actor who could make the phonebook riveting, Rivers tears into the many layers of Toulou’s enigmatic neighbor, peeling back wit, will, and a deep sorrow, bringing to life a storied witch as much resigned to fate as her ability to alter it. She earns the show’s biggest laughs, and with clever choices that imply she could be a con artist just better at her job than Jib, or an actual simple-living sorceress, there’s no doubt Shariba Rivers has powers. “You want salvation, go to church. You want something done, come to me.” --Ian Rigg, Chicagoland Musical Theatre
- HOODOO LOVE--The always wonderful Shariba Rivers returns to Raven as the mysterious and magical Candylady. Having impressed audiences in productions of “Dividing the Estate” and “House of Blue Leaves,” Ms. Rivers dazzles and delights in each and every scene. She’s always fully committed and offers a special charismatic clairvoyance to this play, replaying everything through her facial expressions and body language. This actress continually captivates and mesmerizes throughout the play, leaving her presence in the memories of theatergoers. --Colin Douglas, Chicago Theatre Review
- HOODOO LOVE--Raven Theatre’s production is buttressed by a strong cast of four that exhibits the necessary trust and chemistry to undertake a wide range of emotional risks....Jones and Rivers command the stage entirely whenever present or speaking....In this play, black American women suffer, as they always have, under oppressive male economic and social constructs. But they survive, they create and sing, and they bring forth new life and hope where nothingness and despair exist. Toulou and Candylady never give up — on themselves or each other. --Becky Sarwate, The Broadway Blog
- HOODOO LOVE--While there is literal magic on stage in scenes deserving their own rounds of applause, palpable magic is felt between Martasia Jones and Shariba Rivers as Toulou and Candylady, respectively....Rivers brings much needed levity to the stage with her mysterious Candylady. --Amanda Finn, New City Stage
- HOODOO LOVE--In love both with Ace and with the idea of being a singer herself, Toulou enlists the help of Candylady (a riveting Shariba Rivers), the local "root woman," to bind his heart to hers.... it's her relationship with Rivers's Candylady, who carries in her own mojo bag memories of slavery and of all the husbands she's lost, that resonates most honestly. --Kerry Reid, Chicago Reader
- BLACK BALLERINA--...Rivers imbues Marie with a potent mix of cynicism, regret, and pride in her daughter's talent. --Kerry Reid, Chicago Reader
- UNWELL: A MIDWESTERN GOTHIC MYSTERY--Lily, the protagonist played by Shariba Rivers, is fractious and irritable, having been forced to come down to the town she hates to help her mother, but believably so, completing tasks that she feels compelled to in order to protect her mother’s health....Rivers and Harman enact a contentious, sometimes emotionally abusive, sometimes awkwardly loving, relationship with a long history, parallel to the house that is falling apart around them. --Elena Fernández Collins
- UNWELL: A MIDWESTERN GOTHIC MYSTERY--Played by Shariba Rivers, Lily, Unwell‘s protagonist, is prickly in a way that feels justifiable, or at least relatable. There’s a sense of both duty and frustration in her performance that helps Lily feel grounded–something that accentuates the strangeness that seeps into every part of Mt. Absalom. --Wil Williams, Wil Williams Reviews
- SMALL JOKES ABOUT MONSTERS--Mom describes her current romantic relationship by saying that “life is just a series of days, nothing more, nothing less.” Her matter-of-fact nihilism gets big laughs from the audience, as well as some cringes....Rivers’s Mom is a tough person to compete with for attention. She’s more comfortable...explicitly playing the victim while seeming less vulnerable. Rivers plays her cool, usually somewhat removed from the center of the stage, and always throwing curveballs. It’s not that she withholds love, it’s that her wisdom simply isn’t helpful. --Jacob Davis, Picture This Post
- SMALL JOKES ABOUT MONSTERS--Rivers is especially strong as the tough but loving mom who never hesitates to speak her mind. She can be brutally insulting. --Doug Deuchler, OakPark.com
- THE WINTER WOLF--Rivers’s indispensably warm and layered performance, accomplished while simultaneously bringing to life a previously unheard of demigod beast, goes a long way toward lending this simple story the gravitas it needs even to win over young audiences. --Kris Vire, Storefront Rebellion
- THE WINTER WOLF--Shariba Rivers, manipulating an oddly suitcase-like puppet version of the creature, breathes just the right combination of solemnity and playfulness into the proceedings. --Justin Hayford, Chicago Reader
- IN THE CANYON--Where a light exists both performance-wise and within the narrative is Wendy. This is perhaps the standout performance for Shariba Rivers, who’d already been incredible to this point. Wendy is solid, soft, smart and acerbic—the best of her mother and then some,,,she’s the one point of hope, if small. She’s stalwart and determined to keep fighting, and remind us to do something more. --Marielle Shaw, 3CR
- IN THE CANYON--Shariba Rivers, who plays Hope’s mother Sarah, embodies the stately southern woman with a quiet strength and more than enough kindness and hospitality to go around, without ever becoming cliché or insincere.... Rivers becomes the calm in the room, the buoy you’ll look back on when the waters get choppy, which they will quickly. --Marielle Shaw, 3CR
- IN THE CANYON--Shariba Rivers and Peter Moore as Actor Six and Actor Seven carry a particularly interesting track – beginning as a married couple devoted to the church, and later performing in a completely different power dynamic.... Moore and Rivers portray that switch gracefully, and create an especially frightening and effective relationship as the criminal and officer. --Lauren Katz, Picture This Post
- IN THE CANYON--Starting in 2007, In the Canyon follows Hope and eventually Hope's daughter Wendy ( a magnificent Shariba Rivers ) through roughly 60 years. Over the decades, the world of Obama becomes the world of Trump and then a world not unlike Margaret Atwood's Gilead...Sharpe's Hope and Rivers' Wendy provide the ferocity that keeps In the Canyon moving relentlessly from the present into the foreseeable future. --Catey Sullivan, Windy City Times
- REFRIGERATOR--Each cast member has transcendent moments, with Shariba Rivers as the coldhearted, pragmatic Mitchell a particular standout. --Dmitry Samarov, Chicago Reader
- REFRIGERATOR--The performances are solid all around (Rivers and Cutler are particularly good), and the cast handles Baisch’s dialogue with aplomb. --Alex Huntsberger, Time Out Chicago
- REFRIGERATOR--Pimentel’s direction moves the action along and features good performances by the whole cast, especially by Andrew as Roland and Rivers as Mitchell. --Nancy Bishop, Third Coast Review
- DONTRELL, WHO KISSED THE SEA--But, above all, Shariba William’s [sic] is brilliant as Dontrell’s mother–the living embodiment of his metaphorical sea. In (her) deep and utterly soulful performance, she is, at once, the carrier of her son’s anxiety, possibility, and dreams. --Karen Topham, Chicago on Stage
- DONTRELL, WHO KISSED THE SEA--However, the most powerful scene of the play to us is when his mother expresses her thoughts and feelings about his decision to explore the sea, a mother's love of trying to guide her child into a destiny of surety, not of the uncertainty of the waves of the sea. --Rick and Brenda McCain, Chicago Now
- INSURRECTION: HOLDING HISTORY--Shariba Rivers enters in older, rattier clothing that might be found on a woman of her status in the 1800s south, and she begins to sing a stunning lullaby.... This ensemble tackles the piece with ease, and successfully carries the audience from one moment to the next. --Lauren Katz, Picture This Post
- THE TERRIBLE--...wouldn’t play as well without the quality performances from Rivers and Fowler. Delving into the depths of a mother without her son and a man without his mind comes two beautifully nuanced performances. --Jerald Raymond Pierce, Chicago Stage Standard
- POLAROID STORIES--There are three standouts; Shariba Rivers, Luke Michael Grimes and Andrew Cutler who each hypnotically bring you into their world without the audience member knowing how or why they are doing it. Ms. Rivers (Persephone/Semele) is instantly engaging and a powerhouse in her subtle manipulations trying to get a fix. In one scene, she tosses the word “love” around where each time she says it, or it is mentioned to her, it takes on a dimension all its own. --Showbiz Chicago
- POLAROID STORIES--That task falls largely to Shariba Rivers, whose brief monologue about the baby she gave up for adoption is as blunt and strong as they come. --Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune
- JASON AND MEDEA--Rivers is the most intense of the cast and actually feels like she’s the only one straight out of a classic Greek play. --Patrick Dyer, Chicago Theater Beat
- SPEAKING IN TONGUES--Shariba Rivers plays the role of Tricia...Ms. Rivers has an edge to her that shows how the character planned and envisioned her way out. And ... is stunning to behold in the role. --K. D. Hopkins, Chicago Theater Beat
- THE RANT--Rivers’ aggrieved Denise, mother of the slain boy, packs a lifetime of angry suffering into every uttered syllable—it’s a weight she both resignedly shoulders and also wields as a weapon against her detractors. --Paige Listerud, Chicago Theater Beat