REVIEW: JESSICA HEPBURN'S GREAT ADVENTURE @ THEATRE ROYAL PLYMOUTH

🎭 Jessica Hepburn's Great Adventure

📍  The Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Royal Parade, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 2TR

🗓 Thursday 11th September 2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️

INSPIRING AND BEMUSING

As a terminally timid member of society, I was excited and intrigued to see a show written by a woman labelled “arty, not sporty” as a child about Adventure. Jessica Hepburn has had large, world recognised adventures involving much stamina and endurance. Becoming the first woman in the world to complete the ‘Sea, Street, Summit Challenge’ – swim the English Channel, run the London Marathon, and summit Mount Everest did not sound “not sporty” to me so I arrive with hope and in anticipation of being similarly inspired. 

As we wait for the show to begin, we listen to music including The Carpenters “Top of the World” and “On top of the World” by Imagine Dragons, so apposite it brings a smile to my face. We discover later in the evening they were from Jessica’s own adventure playlist that played as she achieved her challenges. 

Jessica begins her talk with a resume of her life so far. She feels that being labelled the “arty one” as child coloured her initial decisions about her life as an adult. She embarked on a theatrical career in Newcastle with Northern Stage which culminated in her becoming Executive Director of the Lyric, Hammersmith at age 34, making her one of the youngest at the time. Running parallel to this she and her husband were trying to become parents. Eleven gruelling rounds of unsuccessful IVF later, heartbroken and battered she decided to swim the Channel to raise money for an infertility charity. She confessed she had very little idea of what was involved and was not a good swimmer. Despite asserting she would never repeat the experience Jessica discovered the euphoria of accomplishing this amazing feat was a way out of the misery and is now a firm advocate of the power of adventure to uplift and enhance your life. A little under two years later, still claiming she is no athlete, she ran the London Marathon. Following this, after a hiatus caused by the Covid epidemic she climbed Chomolungma, Mount Everest, in 2022. 

Jessica Hepburn is an engaging and amusing speaker, a lover of food, podcasts and lists comprising three items. I salute her incredible fortitude and her encouragement to #LiveBigAndBrave but I would dearly love to know more about how she went from non-sporty to being the first woman to achieve these challenges. That was the bit I felt was missing and to an extent it was the piece of the jigsaw I most wanted to know about. 

Jessica then brings her special guest for this evening, polar explorer Ann Daniels, to the stage. There is a ripple of amusement as she arrives with her wrist in plaster following a motorbike accident. “I won’t be repeating that adventure!” Ann is one of the first women to reach the North and South Poles as part of all women teams. With little or no previous outdoor experience and as a mother of young children she overcame stiff competition to be selected for her first expedition. Ann describes her love of the Arctic over the Antarctic, her encounters with dangerous wildlife and her excitement over leading surveys in these inhospitable places. She also described how she was criticised in the media for leaving her children to undertake these adventures even to the point of attempted humiliation by Richard Madeley on the ITV morning show. This is outrageous, I have seen few male adventurers being considered anything other than heroic. Most of them have children!  

That these women are inspirational is beyond doubt, I have huge admiration for both Ann Daniels and Jessica Hepburn. I am, however, still none the wiser as to how from zero experience they find the strength and motivation to attain such achievements. This frustrating missing information spoilt the show for me and is something I overheard others mention on their way out. 

Will I be scaling a mountain in the near future? No, that is probably not for me. Reflecting on the show I have reevaluated my own adventures, those opportunities I have taken outside of my comfort zone. Turns out I am not as timid as I thought! Micro adventures for the win! 

There is one more performance of JESSICA HEPBURN'S GREAT ADVENTURE at Theatre Royal Plymouth tonight, where the special guest will be Dame Darcey Bussell. Click Here to book last minute tickets.

Rosie Sharman-Ward

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one person.

My ticket for this performance of Jessica Hepburn's Great Adventure was gifted by Theatre Royal Plymouth who invited me to watch the show on behalf of Pink Prince Theatre in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.

PERFORMERS:

Jessica Hepburn and Ann Daniels

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Contains a wide range of themes and discussions around personal struggles which some audience members may find sensitive depending on their own life experiences.

AGE RECOMMENDATION:

12 +