Sol B River

Who is Sol B River?

Sol B River is a British writer, director, producer and actor best known for his theatre productions, born Leeds, Yorkshire, England, of parentage. He was introduced as Writer in Residence to the West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds by Artistic Director Jude Kelly after writing Moor Masterpieces as his first commissioned production. He immediately became one of the most important and enigmatic theatrical voices in Britain, his work being noted as having power and authority by Time Out magazine while The Guardian compared his production of To Rhatid to writing like Samuel Beckett on amphetamines.

In 1996 he received rave reviews for his first London production To Rhatid, directed by Yvonne Brewster and performed by Angela Wynter, produced by Talawa Theater at the Young Vic Studio Theater.

In 1998 he wrote the famous Jamaican story The White Witch of Rose Hall and the world premiere was produced in Jamaica as part of the University of the West Indies 50th anniversary at the Philip Sherlock Centre and directed by Brian Heap. The play had failed to receive a production in Britain.

In 1998 River Plays 1, which includes "Moor Masterpieces", "To Rhatid" and "Unbroken", was published by Oberon Books, London, as part of their Modern Playwrights series, making Sol B River the first living black writer to be published by Oberon.