Gumba

Professional puppet theatre · For primary schools, Years K–6

World‑class puppet theatre for primary schools.

Gumba produces professionally crafted puppet theatre — combining original puppetry, live music and narrative design — to engage students and support wider educational outcomes.

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Our mission

Every child deserves access to the arts.

Gumba was founded on the view that every child deserves access to high‑quality artistic experiences — work that inspires curiosity, encourages self‑expression, and helps students make sense of the world around them.

We regard creativity not as a supplement to a child’s education, but as central to it. Every student, regardless of background or location, should have the opportunity to engage with excellent, professionally produced theatre.

Children in rural and low‑socioeconomic communities in particular often have limited access to high‑quality arts programming. Gumba was established, in part, to help address this gap.

Our mission is to deliver world‑class, multidisciplinary theatre productions to children across all regions and backgrounds — productions that engage, educate and inspire through live performance.

A brightly costumed Gumba puppet with a rainbow-feathered headdress, mid-performance on stage.

Our approach

Rethinking how difficult topics are addressed on stage.

Much children’s theatre addresses subjects such as bullying through direct moral messaging — informing students that a behaviour is undesirable, without examining the feelings, relationships or underlying issues that give rise to it.

Gumba takes a different view.

Our productions explore themes including bullying, disengagement and the challenges of learning through narrative and character, allowing students to engage with difficult subject matter on their own terms rather than through direct instruction.

Substance, delivered with genuine artistry.

We pair this approach with a high production standard — original music, considered staging and a level of craft more commonly associated with professional adult theatre — because we believe educational value and artistic quality are not mutually exclusive.

A goggled Gumba puppet holding an old telephone to its ear, mid-scene.

The value of live performance

The case for a shared, live experience.

Children today are growing up immersed in screens and digital content. Gumba’s live performances offer an alternative: a shared experience in a single room, built on direct human interaction rather than mediated content.

In our productions, a puppet becomes a character with genuine presence, music is performed live, and narrative unfolds in real time — a form of engagement recorded or digital media cannot replicate.

Our work also positions children as active participants in the arts rather than passive consumers, encouraging curiosity, self‑expression, collaboration and creative confidence.

This is the experience we bring to schools: professionally produced, genuinely engaging, and designed to remain with students well beyond the performance itself.

A vivid pink and blue butterfly puppet perched on a performer's hand.

Why this matters

The value of learning through performance

Gumba’s approach is informed by a growing body of research into the educational value of live theatre, including its role in supporting learning outcomes, social perspective‑taking and student engagement.

Educational Researcher · 2018

Learning through experience. Students who attended live theatre performances showed stronger knowledge of story and vocabulary, plus gains in tolerance and social perspective‑taking.

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J. of Cognition and Development · 2022

Developing empathy. Facilitated discussion and preparation built around a live performance can support empathy and social perspective‑taking in students.

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Early Childhood Research Quarterly · 2018

Supporting young learners. High‑quality drama experiences for preschoolers can provide an engaging learning environment alongside more traditional teaching.

Read the study →

Gumba’s productions are built on the premise that artistic excellence and educational value are not mutually exclusive.

  • A powerful story can entertain while encouraging reflection.
  • A song can inspire joy while introducing new ideas.
  • A character can help a child consider a perspective beyond their own.

Book a performance

Enquire about a performance.

Please share some details about your school and requirements. We respond to all enquiries within two business days.

  • Submit an enquiryComplete the form below; it takes approximately one minute.
  • We respondA member of our team will follow up to discuss scheduling, format and suitability for your school.
  • Performance dayGumba provides the production; your school provides the audience.
These details will only be used to respond to your enquiry.