Remembering Josephine Melville who passed away last week, backstage after appearing in a production of 'Nine Nights' by Natasha Gordon at Nottingham Playhouse. Remembering her appearing in a Theatre of Black Women theatre-in-education play for 8-13 year olds, our only schools' play, nearly forty years ago - Miss Quashie and the Tiger's Tail by Gabriela and Jean Pearse (a mother-daughter duo) - directed by Joan Ann Maynard. Remembering how she was such a lovely ball of energy, openness, willingness, focus and talent - 100% commitment, as you can see from these photographs. Long before 'Wakanda Forever', long before The Woman King, long before black female actors had the opportunities that exist today, some black women told us that working with our company would not be good for their careers; some black women also refused to work with the black theatre companies per se that proliferated in the 80s for the same reason. I'm not judging them, but registering how much our society has changed for the better. Josephine clearly wasn't one of those actors, and later, in the 90s, she was part of the Bibi Crew black women's comedy troupe. We were all young women in our twenties in the 80s, with no idea of what lay ahead for us. It's good to see that she continued working in theatre when so many gave up - the passion of ambition crushed by disappointment when we weren't considered castable. But when things get tough, it can be the making of us - we can decide to be fortified through adversity and become even more determined to pursue our ambitions, our dreams. Life happens, but it's how we respond to it that makes the difference. RIP #JosephineMelville, whom I knew briefly so long ago. #josephinemelville #theatreofblackwomen #blackwomen #blackwomeninthearts #wakandaforever #thewomanking #blackpanther