Josette Bushell-Mingo

Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE (born 16 February 1964) is a Swedish-based English theatre actress and director of African descent. In 1999 she appeared as Solveig in the Royal Exchange, Manchester production of Peer Gynt and she returned to Manchester in 2005 to play Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra. Both productions were directed by Braham Murray. She was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award in 2000 for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Rafiki in the London production of The Lion King (musical). In 2001, she founded a black-led arts festival called PUSH at the Young Vic. In 2006 she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In 2007 she directed the theatrical production of Margaret Atwood's novella The Penelopiad. One of her three international projects of 2009 will be to direct A Midsummer Nights Dream at Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School, a project involving second-year acting students and numerous other departments from both inside and outside the school.
Born in Lewisham, London, she has been living and working in Sweden for many years. She is currently the artistic director for The Swedish National Touring Theatre Tyst teater ensemble. Her production of The Odyssey, performed in Swedish Sign Language received huge critical acclaim in Scandinavia.
She is one of the nine board members of the Swedish Film Institute.