'The Malaga Ship: A Story of Maine and the Middle Passage'

EAC's Stories We Tell Festival, a collaboration with Sipayik Museum and The Quoddy Tides, continues with this tour de force performance by award-winning and world-renowned storyteller Antonio Rocha.

Using his body and tenor voice, Antonio sings, narrates and moves through this poetically toned and heart wrenching historical story. The tale is partially told from the ship's point of view.

The Malaga ship was built in Brunswick Maine in 1832 and used in the transatlantic trafficking of Africans to the Americas, including from Brazil (Antonio's Homeland) in the 1840s.

This performance was created with financial support from The Maine Arts Commission, The New England Foundation for the Arts and Indigo Arts Alliance.

The performance is 45 minutes long and is followed by a post show discussion with the audience. Due to the nature of the material, the performance is appropriate for attendees age 12 and up. Admission is free; donations will be gratefully accepted, and will be used to help sustain programs like these. Please note 'support EAC' and 'patron'-level tickets with complimentary beverage.

Antonio Rocha (pronounced Haw-sha) is an award winning performer who has toured his unique shows to 20 countries on 6 continents, and 43 US states. This year he is the Maine Performing Arts Fellow, an award given once in a lifetime by The Maine Arts Commission. For more information about this, please visit www.storyinmotion.com.

Here are some recent testimonials about 'The Malaga Ship: A Story of Maine and the Middle Passage':

"[.....] I had traveled through time to witness the lifecycle of a slave ship.

This story teaches people about the Middle Passage in a unique and unforgettable way. Antonio brought the ship to life and showed the audience, through the ship’s experience of transporting “cargo,” how incredibly cruel and pervasive the slave industry was. Antonio also drew a line from what happened in the 1800s with his own life and with America today, connecting the dots from the sugar industry, the slave industry, and racial inequity in America in 2024. By connecting these various points through history with his own personal experience, he painted a vivid picture for anyone who might not understand how tragedies of the past influence the present."

—Jessica Piscitelli Robinson, Executive Director, Better Said Than Done

"Antonio delivers one of the most breathtaking and poignant performances I have ever seen."

—Wendy Northcross, cofounder and executive director, John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum

"To paraphrase Maya Angelou, 'It may be enough to have it said that we [as a people] survive in exact relationship to the dedication' of our artists. So often, understanding and informing history is most effectively achieved through the many forms of artistic expression. In his extraordinary performance of the "The Malaga Ship: A Story of Maine and the Middle Passage,” Antonio Rocha exemplifies the way in which the difficult history of the trans-Atlantic human trade is infused with “shades of deeper meaning,” brought to life, and shared.

—Ann Cobb, Executive Director, and Ann Chin, Program Director, Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project