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The Guardian view on the class crisis in the arts: the UK’s culture must not become the preserve of the elite

Editorial: Countless reports and celebrities have called for greater working-class representation, so why has nothing changed?

The Guardian - UK · Jan 30

‘We have permission to be brave’: the women taking charge of crisis-hit Welsh National Opera

Adele Thomas and Sarah Crabtree took up their positions as joint heads of WNO in January after brutal funding cuts. But they are confident their pared-down operation will still offer ‘an electric night out’

The Guardian - UK · Sep 11, 2025

Rigoletto review – dark and daring take on Verdi’s depraved tale

With the Welsh National Opera on the ropes from funding cuts this is a defiantly non-safe staging with a fine cast and the orchestra and chorus on exceptionally strong form

The Guardian - UK · Sep 22, 2024

Il trovatore review – cruelty played out with anarchic imagination

Adele Thomas’s visually arresting production mixes levity with tragedy, as fervent orchestral play is matched by expressive singing from a fine cast

The Guardian - UK · Jun 4, 2023

Director Adele Thomas: ‘In theatre, you need a private income just to live’

The theatre and opera director on how her working-class Welsh background informs her work, the strangeness of Il trovatore, and her eclectic running playlist

The Guardian - UK · May 14, 2023

The week in classical: In the Realms of Sorrow; Alexander’s Feast; Sheku Kanneh-Mason plays Bloch – review

The raw, ravishing power of four solo cantatas is taken to the next level at the London Handel festival, while young star cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason works overtime

The Guardian - UK · Mar 4, 2023

Bajazet review – Vivaldi finally gets his London premiere

Vivaldi wrote 90 operas but this is the first of his works to be staged at the ROH; Adele Thomas’s engaging production makes a strong case for this to be first of many

The Guardian - UK · Feb 6, 2022