He worked in the United States, primarily at the Dallas Theater Center in Texas, from 1964 to 1984, before returning to New Zealand where he was artistic director at the Fortune Theatre, Dunedin, between 1985 and 1999.
[1] He worked initially as a bacteriologist, dabbling in amateur theatre where he met his actress wife Jacque in an Auckland Repertory production of The Crucible.
Apart from briefly returning to Christchurch in 1967 to work at the Canterbury Theatre Company, he remained in the United States for 20 years, in Dallas and, later, Arkansas and Florida.
[4] During Thomas's years at the helm the Company aimed to bring to Dunedin audiences the best of contemporary English language drama from throughout the world.
In addition to British, Australian and Canadian works he put particular emphasis on American drama, frequently presenting off-Broadway and regional successes.