[9] While Thornton was Nightwood's artistic director, she directed several productions including Véronique Olmi's Mathilde (2006, translated by Morwyn Brebne),[10] Polly Stenham's That Face (2009),[11] Jennifer Tremblay's The List (2010),[12] Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad (2012),[13] Anupama Chandrasekhar's Free Outgoing (2014),[14] and Mary Vingoe's Refuge (2016).
[15] In 2019, Thornton left Nightwood to become the artistic director of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.
[16] As part of her tenure as artistic director, Thornton created RMTC's Bridge Festival.
[17] Thornton's inaugural season (2020/21) as artistic director was set to include the Canadian premiere of Network and a production of The Sound of Music, the latter of which she was to direct.
[18] In June 2020, Thornton announced a "reimagined season", which included cancellations of Network and The Sound of Music, due to COVID-19 restrictions.
[19][20] Thornton directed Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of Orlando in late 2021 as the RMTC's first in-person production in the pandemic.