Essaka Joshua’s research has taken her from The New York Public Library to archives in Scotland, tracing the intersections of Romantic theatre and disability studies.
Her next stop is a little closer to home.
A professor of English at the University of Notre Dame, Joshua was recently named a 2026-27 long-term fellow at the Newberry Library. In January, she will begin six months of research at the Chicago cultural institution, as the Richard H. Brown/William Lloyd Barber and Mellon Foundation Fellow, and immerse herself in the library’s research community and wide range of historical materials.
“I’m excited to join this vibrant community of scholars working with the Newberry’s extensive European and American collections, and to have an extended period of research time to focus on this project,” she said.
Over the past two decades, Joshua has focused her scholarship on disability studies, especially in her 2020 book Physical Disability in British Romantic Literature. She wrote a chapter for that book about theatre and disability, but removed it to keep the focus on literature. She also wrote about disability in her most recent book, Disability and the Gothic: The Nineteenth Century (Cambridge University Press, 2026). She’s now further exploring the topic, and during her fellowship, she will draw from the Newberry’s rare books from the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as the library’s collection of circus ephemera — posters, handbills, postcards, and more — for her research.
Studying these artifacts from the circuses of 200 years ago will help answer her central research question: Where do we find disability in Romantic-era theatre?
“Circuses then were extravaganzas — they’ve got horses, they’ve got acrobats, they’ve got all sorts of interesting tricks they use to get people through the door,” Joshua said. “What I’m finding is that disabled actors are moving between circus spaces and theatrical spaces, and that happens particularly for actors with dwarfism.”
‘Calling the shots’
Harvey Leach, a central figure in Joshua’s research, didn’t have dwarfism but was born with short, deformed legs that categorized him as a “dwarf actor.” His unique appearance, as well as his acrobatic and acting skills, led to a nearly 40-year theatre and circus career that spanned across Europe and the United States — an enormous and rare achievement for any actor in the Romantic era. Joshua discovered that Leach, who performed under the stage name Hervio Nano, was at the heart of the theatrical life of the period and very much in control of his career — he commissioned his own material, arranged his own tours, and found jobs for other disabled actors.
“Leach was probably one of the most famous American actors of his time, and no one has ever heard of him now,” Joshua said. “He’s a big discovery, and he needs to come out of the shadows.”
Joshua is also shining a spotlight on the life of another American performer, Joseph Stevens, who worked across theatres and museums, becoming a human exhibit for his dwarfism and an actor and docent for his talent and charm. He was a key star in advertisements for museums in New York City, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, and became famous after performing in an adaptation of Henry Fielding’s play Tom Thumb. His career spanned 25 years and laid the groundwork for P. T. Barnum’s more famous protégé, Charles Stratton.
Joshua also recently discovered the identity of a young man known as the ‘Drury Lane dwarf singer.’ Through her research, she found a resignation letter announcing his departure from the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and offering his services to the rival royal theatre at Covent Garden in London for a higher wage.
“These three actors are really indicative of the possibilities for some disabled people during that period,” Joshua said. “It was possible for disabled people in the Romantic era to not just be exploited exhibits in freak shows but to actually be meaningfully at the center of drama and calling the shots.”
Understanding disability
The stories of dwarf actors and their roles make up just one chapter in Joshua’s upcoming book, tentatively titled “Disability and Romantic Theatre 1780-1840.” The book shows many other ways disability shows up in theatre, from performance subject matter to audience member experiences.
“I’m trying to establish where disability becomes historically important, not just in a literary way or a theatrical way, but in a real-world way, too.”
In one chapter, Joshua highlights a particular 1801 play in which a deaf orphan finds his family and reclaims his noble title after learning sign language. It was performed at a time when sign language was not widespread, and often, deaf people and their families learned it was an option only after watching the play, Joshua said.
“Theatre is often thought of as this entertainment thing on the side,” she said. “But this play ended up being an advocacy tool, and it showed people why sign language matters.”
The book also examines stage madness — through the visual, costuming, and behavioral aspects of theatre. It additionally provides a history of accommodations in Romantic-era theatre, exploring questions like, “What happened if an actor went deaf in the middle of their career? How could a mobility-impaired audience member get to their seat? How did disabled actors break into the theatre world?”
“The heart of the book is the idea of keeping centered on the real world as well as the theatrical world,” Joshua said. “I’m trying to establish where disability becomes historically important, not just in a literary way or a theatrical way, but in a real-world way, too.”
Privilege and dignity
Joshua first became interested in disability studies 30 years ago, when the field's theoretical groundwork was being laid. Alongside the well-established critical, feminist, and Marxist approaches to literary analysis, Joshua taught using a disability-centered framework at the University of Birmingham. She found students were eager to use the new tool, which gave both pupil and teacher a unique worldview.
“I was confronting able-bodied privileges for the first time,” Joshua said. “What am I assuming about able-bodiedness and able-mindedness as I move through the world — and also move through literature?”
When readers abandon their assumptions before analyzing texts, they can uncover new possibilities for characters, stories, and meaning, Joshua said. A key element of disability studies is understanding that disability is not intrinsically bad, but instead a facet of humankind’s diversity. Therefore, it’s important to treat people with disabilities with dignity and study their stories with care, Joshua said.
“We should always reflect the variety of human experience in the study of culture more broadly,” she said. “It’s part of what’s interesting about the world.”
Originally published by at al.nd.edu on August 19, 2026.