â??[Safdieâ??s writing is a reminder that terrific original work often comes from a strong point of view and a willingness to take chances.â??
â??The New York Times

Oren Safdie is a Canadian playwright and screenwriter. His plays include Jews & Jesus, Fiddler Sub-Terrain, Hyper-Allergenic, Broken Places, Laughing Dogs, La Compagnie, and Private Jokes, Public Places. His play The Last Word had its debut Off Broadway in 2007. La Compagnie was later turned into Fashion Avenue, a pilot for CBS. Safdie also wrote the 1998 film You Can Thank Me Later, based on his play Hyper-Allergenic. He co-wrote the 2007 Israeli film Fresh Wrinkle. Safdie's latest play is The Bilbao Effect. He is married to actress/playwright M.J. Kang.

Oren Safdie's profile page

â??Anyone who has ever suffered through a dry academic symposium, with various â??expertsâ?? pontificating in prolix philosophical terms that would baffle Spinoza, will find much to hoot about in Private Jokes, Public Placesâ?¦ a facile examination of academia, intellectual pretension and the failure of postmodernist culture. As for Safdie, comparisons with Yasmina Rezaâ??s Art will be inevitable. But Safdie rivals Reza in wit and often outstrips her in intellectual heft.â??
â??The Los Angeles Times

â??Safdie has captured the character of architectural discourseâ??in all its subtleties and foiblesâ??and brought to the public a disturbing (yet humorous) glimpse inside todayâ??s architecture schools.â??
â??Architecture Week

â??Safdieâ??s frenetic new plays of ideasâ?¦raises just about every issue that has kept design offices, coffeehouses and university hallways in conversation for he past century â?? then makes us laugh knowingly at ourselves for taking them so seriously.â??
â??Metropolis