Walter Todd (they/them) is a Black queer playwright based in Chicago, Illinois and a recent graduate from Northwestern University. Their work examines our binary-obsessed society to expose its load-bearing contradictions and find comfort in life’s many in-betweens.

Walter’s work has been seen across the city and suburbs. Their one-act apartment drama “A Blue Orange” was staged as part of Gender Fucked Productions’ 2026 “Trans Scribe” festival. Their play "Fast-Fish, Loose-Fish," an adaptation of Melville's "Moby-Dick," through a trans lens, was staged as a part of the "haunted" 2025 New Play Festival with Subtext Studio Theatre Company in Chicago. Their full-length museum thriller “Special Collections” will soon be staged as part of Pocket Theatrics’ 2026 “inc.” New Play Festival.

Their play “Double Helix,” a Black fusion of science and historical fiction, was named a finalist in the 2026 Gloria Bond Clunie Playwright's Festival. Development of their tragicomedy "Another!" was funded by a Franke Fellowship the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities.

At Northwestern they helmed the devising process for two hybrid sketch and improv comedy shows. The first was in 2024, titled “Couch Surfing.” This piece followed two stoners (improvised) watching various shows and advertisements on a bootleg streaming service (pre-written sketch) in their basement. The same format was expanded upon in 2026 with “The Village of Standish Independent Press Public Cable News First Annual 24 Hour Newsathon.” This show follows a North Dakotan public newsroom desperately strapped for cash as they cobble together twenty-four hours of segments despite living in the middle of nowhere.

Outside of theatre, Walter's passions include education, painting, history, and tabletop RPGs.