Eclipse

People are more afraid of a lecture than of a mask.

A one-man show about the history of masks and their nature. From the death mask or disguise—flesh that fades away—to social media, intangible flesh. Matías Umpierrez offers us a striking piece about the protective barriers we choose as individuals and as a society.

Starting from the 2018 news of the discovery of a 9,000-year-old mask, Matías Umpierrez—an artist focused on contemporary issues of the individual and a member of a family of ceramicists and plasterers—decided to embark on research into the utopia of being someone else. Out of this, along with other projects, came Eclipse. The show now returns to Madrid for those who missed it in June 2023 at Naves del Español. On stage, a masked figure and its double appear like the moon and the sun, as the piece plays with duality and mystery. The masked figure takes us on a journey through different masks, their uses and meanings, retracing the identities we long to embody. Anonymity itself becomes yet another identity. Eclipse delivers a documentary-style monologue in the form of a magician’s show.

Rocío Bello
Dramaturg of the 25/26 season at Nave 10 Matadero

This performance uses strobe lighting, which may affect people with epilepsy.