Waves of Tears, Winds of Hope by Antonio Rocha

Renowned storyteller Antonio Rocha brings two tales to life that connect centuries and continents. 

This extraordinary evening features two shows: The Malaga Ship: A Story of Maine and the Middle Passage and Once Upon a Hill in Maine: The Pedro Tovookan Parris Story.  

The Malaga was a 183-ton brig built in Brunswick, Maine in 1832, in a shipyard owned by Joseph Badger. Although it was illegal to traffic enslaved people from Africa to the Americas in the 1800s, the Malaga took part in an illicit slave trade that persisted during the 19th century. Eventually, the ship made its way to Brazil, where slavery was not abolished until 1888.

In The Malaga Ship, Rocha—who was born in Brazil and came to Maine to study with Tony Montanaro at Celebration Barn—brings this thought-provoking history to life with stunning virtuosity. The story is mostly told from the ship’s point of view, with details about the trade never taught in school. Drawing on his skills as a storyteller and mime, Rocha also sings and produces realistic sounds as he weaves the history of the Malaga with his own fascinating Afro-Brazilian biography. 

Once Upon a Hill in Maine traces one man’s extraordinary journey from enslavement to freedom. Born in East Africa around 1833, Pedro Tovookan Parris was trafficked aboard a Maine-built brig to Brazil before finding refuge and community in Paris Hill (just a mile and a half from the future home of Celebration Barn). Through movement, voice, and song, Rocha brings Pedro’s story to life—illuminating Maine’s connections to the transatlantic slave trade and celebrating resilience, creativity, and the power of testimony.

Whether you have seen one or both shows before or you are seeing them for the first time, you will not want to miss this powerful, thought-provoking evening, performed by one of the Barn’s most beloved alumni.

About Antonio Rocha

Antonio Rocha (pronounced haw-sha), originally from Brazil, began his career in the performing arts in 1985. In 1988, he received a Partners of the Americas grant to come to the United States to perform and deepen his mime skills with mime master Tony Montanaro. Since then, he has earned a BA in theater, summa cum laude, from the University of Southern Maine and studied with master Marcel Marceau. Rocha’s unique and award-winning solo fusion of mime and storytelling with mesmerizing voices and sound effects has been performed from Singapore to South Africa and many places in between, including twenty countries on six continents as well as in forty-four US states. Some of the venues include the Singapore Festival of the Arts, Wolf Trap, the National Storytelling Festival, the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic, the Tales of Graz in Austria, Dunya Festival, the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, and Cave Run Storytelling Festival as well as thousands of school performances. Rocha also loves to teach his craft and often facilitates workshops, not only for performers but for those who want to incorporate storytelling into their business presentations and classroom.

A two-time TEDx speaker, Rocha is a proud recipient of the coveted Circle of Excellence Award by the National Storytelling Network, and most recently the 2024 Maine Arts Commission Fellowship for the Performing Arts.