Although these performances form an essential part of the artistic and socio cultural identity of Bui, they are often misunderstood or undervalued, even within the communities that practise them. War, modernity, shifting political structures, and Western notions of authority have contributed to the erosion of their importance. Ritual theatre in Bui encompasses initiation rites, sacred manifestations, performers, spaces, costumes, props, and audience involvement, all of which carry symbolic meanings that transcend entertainment. Yet for many, their deeper functions remain obscure.

Existing scholarship on traditional theatre in Noni, Nso, and Oku has largely overlooked semiotic, ethnological, and theatrical interpretations of ritual and sacred performances. This study highlights the genres of sacred enactments, the structures of initiation, and the relationships between performers, contexts, and audiences in both public and restricted settings. It further analyses the semiotic and aesthetic aspects of these performances and demonstrates how ritual enactments operate as performance texts. The study shows how initiation rites confer social and spiritual identities and how performers, both masquerade and non masquerade, transcend ordinary human states through moments of spirit possession.

Employing performance theory, myth and archetypal literary theory, and structuralist and semiotic approaches, the research uses interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observations to study selected sacred enactments. The findings reveal the dual role of these performances as both ritual and entertainment, characterised by a sophisticated interplay between animation and spirituality. Ultimately, the study affirms that these performances are vital to the socio cultural identity of the communities, bridging past and present and serving a transformative purpose for both performers and spectators.