This paper examines the application and efficacy of performance ethnography designed for adult professional learning. An ethnographic performance related to women in research leadership was constructed and performed in an executive tertiary leadership programme and the responses from the female audience/participants were investigated. The study defines a form of research-based theatre: "interactive ethnographic performance" where an ethnographic performance text is intersected by drama pedagogy designed to enhance the learning experience. It found that this model of interactive ethnographic performance applied to professional learning provides opportunities for deep engagement and critical reflection and offers a site for powerful collective learning.