The Malaga Ship: A Story of Maine & The Middle Passage

In February, National Black History Month, ArtsFarmington is pleased to present the award-winning storyteller Antonio Rocha in his performance of Malaga, the Ship.  The performance will be February 11^th at 7:00pm in the Emery Community Arts Center at the University of Maine at Farmington.

The Malaga was a 183-ton brig built in 1832 in Brunswick Maine in a shipyard owned by Joseph Badger. The ship eventually found herself as part of the already illegal transatlantic trade of African captives to the Americas, especially Brazil. The Malaga Ship story is a tour de force performance.  Using his entire body and voice, Antonio sings, narrates, and mimes his way through this poetically toned historical tale told mostly from the perspective of the ship. The story vividly explores the reality and impact of the slave industry, which was the largest industry in the world in the 1800s. The story also has deep personal meaning to the performer, as Malaga goes to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1845. Antonio was raised there in a biracial household, a century after the Malaga’s visit. 

Antonio Rocha is an award-winning performer whose career spans 40 years across the globe including 21 countries and 44 US States and here, in Maine, the Maine Arts Commission has awarded him a Performing Arts Award. He performs in schools and libraries, at festivals and in performing arts centers, from museums to Universities, and in premier venues such as the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap center, and has appeared here in Maine in events with Portland Ovations. The Malaga Ship is a voyage to the dark corners of his ancestral past and is a piece he is honored to share.

A moderated discussion will take place at Emery just following the production. Dr. Michael Schoeppner from the UMF History Department will moderate the discussion.

The suggested adult ticket price is $20, more if you can, less if you can’t. All are welcome and no one is turned away. The event is free to UMF students, and to youth 18 and younger through the Arts Inspire Youth program of ArtsFarmington.  Tickets also available at the door.

A children’s “African Folk Tale” entertaining performance will be given at the Cascade Brook School in the afternoon of 2/11.  It is proudly sponsored by ArtsFarmington.