"A monologue as long as a performance from a performance that's as long as a lifetime. Of an incredibly strong woman, imprisoned at only 40 and deprived of her freedom for more than a decade, facing with dignity her condemnation following unformulated accusations that will eventually be proven unsubstantiated, tightened like a corset in a body that still bears the memory of their pains. Which Oana Pellea pulled out of the pages laid out by Lena Constante after these incredible years of solitude and gave it a disturbing incarnation in a theatrical confessional that leaves you breathless."

Luciana Antofi, Blog - Oana Pellea in the tetragon cell: Lena Constante's "Silent Escape". At the National Theatre.  

"In both roles, as a debut director and as an established actress in Romanian theater, Oana Pellea reached a peak with Silent Escape. Her performance was truly extraordinary. (...) The role of acting grace was that of stepping completely out of her own personality and 'moving' into the physical, intellectual and spiritual contours of the heroine Lena Constante. It is rare to see such a lesson in humility, because the tendency of actors is to graft their personal data onto the structure of the characters they play, to somehow "own" them and assimilate them through their own acting. Now, in Oana Pellea we saw precisely this effacement of the self, a continuous effort to 'melt' one's own characteristics and particularities, so that Lena Constante's borderline experience is not obstructed or blurred by elements and aspects outside herself. Oana Pellea's memorable role was - and still in a one woman show! - that of making us forget that in front of us, alone on stage, is Oana Pellea."

Daniel Cristea-Enache, Liternet.ro - From drawer opera to open stage - Silent escape  

"Oana Pellea confesses, not narrates, she transforms herself into Lena Constante, becomes her voice, without giving those in the audience time to judge the differences between the two. Sitting upright in her chair, unmoving, Oana Pellea brings Lena Constante to life, using a facial expression that is more than expressive and sudden movements of her head. Lena Constante's totally suppressed personal freedom is given meaning through this minimalist play, this meticulous, detailed construction of each moment. All around her are those microphones that give the impression of a press conference, but in reality they build the walls of silence and limit Lena's movements to the maximum, they become the corset that tightens until suffocation."

Nona Rapotan, Bookhub - Lena Constante's (un)silent escapes at the TNB  

"Oana Pellea's gesture is extremely commendable. At a time when most theaters are staging performances that have nothing to do with Romanian reality, through her gesture, Oana Pellea reminds us and reveals the sufferings of people who had the strength to face with great courage the moral oppression of the communist investigators."

Candid Stoica, Viata medicală - Terrifying testimonies at the NTB  

"Oana Pellea opts not only for a synthesizing script, but also for a type of address that avoids the pathetic as much as possible, in an attempt to fluently explain "how living in hell you can discover and choose the heaven within you". Perhaps so that those for whom the testimony is brokered avoid hell. "Prison is a colossal experience. If you survive. If you escape with your soul unspoilt", says Lena Constante through the voice of Oana Pellea, a voice of a terrible fullness of emotion."

Doru Mareș, Artitudini.ro - Two stories about (wicked) times that were (and show signs of more to come)  

Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu 

The performance "The Silent Escape", directed and performed by the actress Oana Pellea, was touring at the Théâtre des Capucins, on September 2024.