Cody Holliday Haefner

About Cody

Cody is a director, devised-theatre maker, teaching artist, and themed entertainment professional currently based between Los Angeles with roots in New York City; Rochester, New York; and Seattle, Washington. Cody is passionate about new plays and re-imagining the classics (and re-defining what is considered “a classic”). Cody is passionate about theme park entertainment and pursuing higher levels of storytelling within theme park shows.

Cody is a co-founder and former artistic board member of the New York theatre company The Brewing Dept., which acted as the non-profit producer of Corkscrew Theater Festival. Cody has directed, devised, produced, and collaborated on works at HERE Arts, Dixon Place, HOT! Festival, FringeNYC, Fresh Fruit Festival, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Intiman Theatre, ArtsWest, the Rochester Fringe Festival and more. Cody holds an MFA in Directing from the University of Washington School of Drama, and a BA in Drama and Theatre Arts from Columbia University. Cody was a member of the 2018-2019 SDC Observership class, and is a recipient of The University of Washington School of Drama Scholarship. He is a member of the 2022 Directors Lab North.

Cody has trained extensively in clown and Viewpoints as well as other physical theater techniques. Cody has trained as an intimacy choreographer with Theatrical Intimacy Education, IDC, and Intimacy Coordinators of Color.

Artist Beliefs

I believe live performance’s greatest potential is its ability to bring people together. Nothing is better than sitting in an audience and feeling the bond of having a shared experience. It makes me feel closer to the people around me. That is why I am dedicated to making live entertainment

I believe that live performance has the power to heal and I pursue projects that have healing potential, either for society as a whole or for the individual audience members in attendance. Healing can happen through catharsis, exposing injustice, or simply through sharing joy with an audience. I love making raucous, joyous theater. As a queer person, I am also passionate about lifting up stories that show all the diverse ways we love. In a world that feels fractured, the theater must lead with love and rise up as a reminder of our shared human spirit.

Some Plays I dream of Directing…

Machinal by Sophie Treadwell
The Stepmother by Githa Sowerby
Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl
Oedipus by Ellen McLaughlin
Big Love by Charles Mee
Hotel Cassiopeia by Charles Mee
Wintertime and/or Summertime by Charles Mee
A Dream Play by August Strindberg
The Balcony by Jean Genet
The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? by Edward Albee
The Crazy Locomotive by Stanislaw Witkievicz
The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter
Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett
Kiss of the Spider Woman by Kander, Ebb, and McNally
Cabaret by Kander, Ebb, and Masteroff
Fun Home by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori
Floyd Collins by Adam Guettel and Tina Landau
bare by Damon Intrabartolo and Jon Hartmere, Jr
Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
Urinetown by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis
iowa by Jenny Schwartz and Todd Almond
Any of Lear DeBessonet and Todd Almond’s Public Works adaptations