"A scene in shades of blue, divided until the end into the two registers: the clear sky and the somewhat calm sea. (...) It's a convention that Felix Alexa doesn't break even for a single scene, keeping the spectator in the net of an analysis as concrete as it is visual of the message conveyed with the help and through the actors. It is becoming rarer and rarer to see on the stages of Bucharest a performance in which the attention falls on the play of the actors, on their ability to convey a message, as full of meaning as it is sensitive.

The exchanges of lines between the three, carried towards the decision as to who will end up being eaten, literally, by the other two, is absurd full of meaning, but also of a very fine humor, which mitigates the cynicism of the situation.

The musical illustration accompanies and emphasizes the scenes that raise the conflict to a new level (...) Out at Sea in the vision of Felix Alexa thus becomes a manifest-performance, which could not have been possible without the contribution of each actor and which gains in depth thanks to the set imagined by Stefan Caragiu and the video design created by Constantin Simon. With Serban Pavlu performing the opportunism in a great way, with Emilian Marnea who is in a good moment of his acting career and with a travesti played very well by Victoria Dicu, Out at Sea can relatively quickly enter the list of favorites of the faithful spectators of the I.L. Caragiale National Theatre in Bucharest."

Nona Rapotan, Bookhub.ro - The story of humanity lost at sea     

"Felix Alexa has masterfully combined the aesthetics specific to the theatre of the absurd (characterized by minimalist scenery and static situations, focused exclusively on discourse) with the aesthetics of contemporary theatre (which combines multimedia elements and explores the theatrical space beyond classical conventions). This fusion of the classical and the modern creates a refined performance that deepens the impact of the story and makes it more in the style of today's audiences, without sacrificing the authenticity of the Mrożekian absurd.

The cast effectively supports the director's vision. Victoria Dicu, as the Fat Shipwrecked, creates a grotesque travesty whose greed, duplicity and cynicism become the driving force of the entire plot.

With a performance that arouses a sense of revulsion, Dicu's composition suggests an almost monstrous figure, perfectly balancing grotesqueness with absurd humor.

Serban Pavlu, as the Middle Shipwrecked, completes this picture of the fierce struggle for power and survival, creating with the talent he has accustomed us to a manipulative, calculating and sluggardly character. Emilian Marnea, as the Little Shipwrecked One, offers the only interpretation of human frailty and vulnerability, the only warm breath in this rather nihilistic dramatic construction.

Two brief but highly effective appearances are those of Eduard Carlan (the postman, an absurd presence that deepens the symbolism of the play) and Andrei Finti, who plays the role of the lackey in a wheelchair. Their sudden appearances in the ''steam of the sea'' are theatrical moments of respite that break the tension of the struggle for survival."

Alexandra Ares, Rinocerul magazine – Out at sea: A refined reinterpretation by Felix Alexa  

"Out at Sea is more than just a play of absurd theater - it is an x-ray of society and the mechanisms of power, seen through an ironic lens. Felix Alexa's production manages to capture the essence of this iconic text, offering a powerful theatrical experience, both through interpretation and visual construction. Through symbolic characters and an extreme situation, the play forces us to question how far the instinct for survival can go and how fragile democracy actually is in the face of the struggle for power.

Victoria Dicu portrays the role of the Fat Shipwrecked Man extremely well in drag, taking on the attitude of leader and ruler of the craft-community. The power to take a life does not overwhelm her, regardless of the reason why the decision needs to be taken, thus having a dictatorial posture (...) Serban Pavlu builds a submissive character, who knows his only interest in this situation: to stay alive. (...) Emilian Marnea seems to me to have the most intense role: that of accepting his fate, and in a way respecting the decisions of others, thus considering himself damned. Great attention to the performance and to how the character handles the dramatic situation to which he is subjected. Exceptional set design by Stefan Caragiu and video design by Constantin Simon, which together create a very good illusion, in a game of projection, lights and smoke."

Andrei Bulboaca, Fictiunea magazine - Hunger Games Out at sea   

"Slavomir Mrozek's Out at Sea, directed by Felix Alexa at the National Theatre in Bucharest, sacrifices satire in favor of cynicism, dresses humor in the rigid but appropriate costume of the grotesque.

The director Felix Alexa moves from the existentialist to the political parable, and the performance can be interpreted as a critique of current political systems in which democracy is eroding under the onslaught of populist slogans. Mrozek's critique of communism pales in comparison to the pamphleteering of today's governments with weak, greedy and short-sighted leaders.

Stefan Caragiu's set design, integrated into the space of the auditorium, imagines a concentrated, stapled, cold, closed universe. Paradoxically, the sea does not give the impression of freedom, of openness, but rather of nothingness. The characters find themselves in a Beckettian spatial dimension, on a rotating raft on which are three chairs, suitcases, boxes and chests. The key themes of the literature of the absurd are translated scenographically: the inert waiting on a chair and the trunk from which various objects are taken. The director bathes this aseptic and agonizing setting in a raw, blue light."

Alina Mariana Maer, Agenda liternet.ro - Humanity's great cradle - Out at sea   

"The action takes place on a raft drifting on the sea, which gave Stefan Caragiu (complemented by Constantin Simon's video design) the opportunity to imagine one of the most beautiful (that's the right word!) theater sets I've seen lately. Ingenious, un-minimal, un-sumptuous, very functional, dynamic enough.

The acting denotes a particular energy. There's a vibe there on stage, well, on the raft, due in part to the set design (including the costumes by Liliana Cenean), Felix Alexa's stage direction, or even Mrozek's text, which makes the three protagonists seem to be plugged into an imaginary outlet."

Radu Preda, Cronicar dupa Ureche - Water, food, energy on the NTB stage!  

"A play like Out at Sea is still relevant today when it has the chance to be staged inspired by a director - Felix Alexa with an admirable team to subtly speculate the subtext of each line.

The characters seem symbolically drawn from political parties. In the stages of human history, "Bread and Circus" has dominated the methods of some eager to gain power and not the morals to serve society. Moral degradation is the major theme of this show.

The director Felix Alexa credibly proposes a show where humor dramatically hides the call to judge the manifestations of those who have come to power. Stefan Caragiu's set design significantly suggests the essence of the theme and spectacularly sets the mood for the action. He always uses the revolving stage with sense. The three castaways - the Fat, the Middle and the Thin - are people in elegant black and white uniforms with bow ties. Through their costumes Liliana Cenean defines them as belonging to a wealthy class, under the "mask" of an image that conceals their immoral appetite for food. Without metaphorical exaggerations, the theatrical image symbolically refers to the area of power.

It has been a long time since the Bucharest National Theatre has included a successful and thematically topical performance in its repertoire. It makes the audience laugh at the 'hunger' for power, but it also alarms them that they are in the 'open sea' with waves that are difficult to stem."

Ileana Lucaciu, Blog – Out at Sea – A successful performance with a topical substrate   

"Two strong points / components recommend Felix Alexa's performance (direction, lighting design and musical illustration) at the I.L. Caragiale National Theater in Bucharest: the text by Sławomir Mrożek, Out at Sea - much too... topical / realistic / acute for us and our society alienated by endless political games and the scenography - signed by Stefan Caragiu (set design), Liliana Cenean (costumes), Constantin Simon (video design) and lit almost pictorially, in frames reminiscent of the surrealism of René Magritte's paintings, the strange combinations between (apparently) banal / simple objects (here the spoon, the fork, the knife - even on the poster of the show, made by Sabina Spatariu) and imaginary perspectives, very attractive in terms of possible interpretations / meanings, inviting to philosophical meditation and even introspection.

Out at Sea deserves the attention of the audience to whom theater is not just a form of entertainment (the audience of a national theater, in principle). The far too black and absurd humor it contains only guarantees many food for thought related to the supremacy of democracy, free and not so free political (but also personal/individual) choices, justice and the absolute cynicism of executioners in the face of the fate of the martyrs of humanity..."

Irina Cornelia Ionescu, Agenda Liternet - A realistic and absurdist backdrop and plenty of food for thought - Out at Sea  

"Behold, on stage we have 100% trans-historical, symbolic characters, to be found anywhere in the world (The Fat Shipwrecked Man, The Middle Shipwrecked Man, The Thin Shipwrecked Man, The Lackey, The Postman), and you will not detect a single reference to the life of the Polish people in the "socialist camp", not a single detail, not a single aspect.

(...) This protective screen of Mroźek's play and Felix Alexa's performance is perfectly constituted and assembled. The set (Stefan Caragiu), subtly conceived, projects the characters in the essential light of this non-polish and a-socialist symbolism, somewhere far away from Poland beyond the Iron Curtain, in another dimension, of the general-human, unassailable by the Censorship and the vigilant ideological activists. The Eastern viewer, of my generation and older, will certainly know "where Mroźek is knocking": in that society of "socialist ethics and fairness", in which polished phraseology ambalesces the camp."

Daniel Cristea Enache, Agenda Liternet - Shipwrecked in totalitarianism – Out at Sea   

Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu