Yellowknife (Jul 07/06) - From the second he picks up the phone, Donald Carr is an enigma.

The Jamaican-born, Toronto-based dancer, poet, writer and performer, who brings his play "Full Nelson" to the One Act Performance Festival this week, loves to speak, to philosophize, to muse and to compliment.

But he commands phone conversations the same way he commands audiences - inspiring rapt attention by virtue of intelligence and charisma alone.

Simply put, with Carr, you're just along for the ride - but you don't mind.

Carr's one-man play is dedicated to the life of Nelson Mandela.

It's billed as "a trip through the agony and ecstasy of Black history."

"Mr. Mandela is a course in miracles," he says.

"Taking the roads less travelled: forgiveness and reconciliation," a reference to the South Africa's mandate after the end of apartheid.

"It replaces the old definition of fear," he says. "That is the power of unshackled courage."

Courage is the theme of the conversation: courage to confront racism, courage to explore the past and courage to inspire others.

"I turn my rage into courage," he says with a thick laugh, rhyming accented "ays." "That's why I stay sharp, sharp like diamonds."

Part of the goal, he says, is to bring this message of courage to "angels unaware:" the audience, by bringing them into the fold.

"In our culture, the audience is separate from the actor. I don't think that is necessary.""If all the world is a stage, which world is more real, the actor or the audience? That is the question."

Another element of the performance is physicality.

Carr is a veteran of the National Ballet of Canada, the Toronto Dance Theatre and many others, through three decades of performing.

"I do four hours of yoga a day. That's also my spiritual discipline," Carr adds.

The "NACC, NACC, Who's There?" One Act Performance Festival continues tonight and tomorrow at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre.

The show starts at 6 p.m., and Donald Carr presents "Full Nelson" at 8 p.m. both nights.