Shariba Rivers Archives - Chicago Reader

In the foreground on the left, a white man in white shirt, suspenders, and tan trousers faces a Black woman in a 1950s-style blue dress. Behind them on the left we see a Black man, also in shirt, trousers, and suspenders, and a white woman in a brown suit dress, looking at the argument unfolding between the two characters in the foreground.

She sees you, white American theater

by Kerry Reid November 17, 2022November 30, 2022

Alice Childress’s Trouble in Mind made its off-Broadway debut in 1955, but it never made the leap to the Great White Way (emphasis most definitely on “White”). The white producers demanded that Childress give her story about racism in the American theater a happier ending depicting racial harmony. (Pause for irony.) Childress refused at first, […]

A white woman in a flannel shirt and baseball cap sits left at a bar table. A Black woman stands to the right next to the table. Behind them is the rest of the bar and other patrons in soft focus.

Sweat, tears, and blood

by Catey Sullivan March 31, 2022March 31, 2022

Lynn Nottage’s gripping drama Sweat launches a new direction for Aurora’s Paramount Theater, a 1,000-plus seat, 87-year-old Versailles-on-acid space known for award-winning musicals. Directed by Andrea J. Dymond, Sweat is the first production in the new Copley Theatre, a minimalist steel-and-glass black box across the street from the larger venue. Dymond’s airtight ensemble makes the […]

Julie Proudfoot and Shariba Rivers in Goods

E. Faye Butler brings the Goods to Artemisia

by Kaylen Ralph May 10, 2021August 18, 2021

Chicago musical theater star E. Faye Butler helms an online sci-fi feminist drama.

From ghostly to gothic to goofy, theater artists celebrate the season

by Catey Sullivan October 13, 2020August 18, 2021

Random Acts, Unwell, and PlayMakers Laboratory create scary stories to share (online) in the dark.

The Tasters pictures dystopia—with a gourmet twist

by Dan Jakes January 23, 2020August 18, 2021

Political prisoners swallow their pride (and maybe some poison) in Rivendell’s world premiere.

Magic and music combine in the Memphis-set Hoodoo Love

by Kerry Reid November 6, 2019August 18, 2021

Katori Hall’s play takes its time but weaves a spell.

Black Ballerina provides a spotlight for Kara Roseborough

by Kerry Reid August 14, 2019August 18, 2021

The dancing star of this world premiere keeps the story of Black women in dance on pointe.

Refrigerator is a chilling look into the near future

by Dmitry Samarov May 25, 2018August 18, 2021

Playwright Lucas Baisch imagines a world when we’ll all be fighting to be uploaded to the cloud.

Erasing the Distance puts its magic on display at the inaugural Sparkfest

by Justin Hayford September 13, 2017August 18, 2021

The 12-year-old theater company aims to “disarm” the stigma of mental illness through art.