The aim of this paper is to position the analysis presented in the associated conference presentation within the underpinning literature, especially the current Arts-in-Management debate. The conference paper focuses on the analysis of dramatic presentations written and performed by small, collaborative groups of Masters in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership students in 2012 as part of the assessment for a 15-credit module entitled ‘Creativity and the Creative Industries’. Both this paper and the conference presentation draw upon the author’s continuing PhD in Professional Education at City University London, which aims to analyse the experience of the students and of the author herself as participant researcher and module leader. This paper draws upon the initial literature review for the author’s continuing PhD, which focused the study’s analysis on themes of narrative (including metaphor), embodiment, identity and reflexive pedagogy. The analysis prepared for the conference reviewed these data, three videos of 10-minute group performances; analysis of the researchers’ journaling in response to these videos, and of my own contemporary journal; the students’ reflective module journals; related sections of their final analytical reports; and my marking and feedback related to the module assessments. The study aims to contribute to the current Arts-in-Management debate (eg Adler, 2006, 2010, 2015; Sutherland, 2012), which draws clear distinctions with established management school offerings such as the MBA; and to explore experiential, arts-informed learning experiences as ‘identity workspaces’ (Petriglieri and Petriglieri, 2010) within postgraduate management education. The outcomes of this study have the potential to contribute to evolving practice in the design, assessment and critique of arts-based experiential learning in university and professional contexts.