Yellowknife (Jun 30/06) - When it comes to advertising, sometimes the medium is as important as the message.

For Brian Wainwright, who is co-ordinating this year's "NACC, NACC, Who's There?" One Act Performance Festival, the medium is a big black sign and a sandwich board, which he has worn near the post office during lunch hours this week.

Brian Wainwright gets the word out for this year's One Act Performance Festival which hits the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre July 6-8. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo

The message? "Theatre Festival. NACC. July 6-8. Yes, that's next week."

"It's a tough gig, standing outside, watching all the pretty girls," said Wainwright, who has augmented his look with a shiny black wizard's hat this year. For half a decade (or so, he said), Wainwright has promoted the festival this way- giving out performance schedules and offering "a little culture" to passers-by.

Aside from the change in hats, Wainwright said there were a few firsts onstage this year.

One is an absent performer - Dawn Lacey, who will have a stand-in introduce her multimedia work, "A Season's Circle"- another is a work of "mime" set to music, Wainwright said.

"The only think we haven't had is puppets," he said, handing out another program. "We're still working on that."

As always, a wide range of performers and styles will grace the stage, from professional Toronto dancers to Yellowknife high school drama students; from video presentations to a rapid-fire series of short plays.

One of the festival's feature performers will be Toronto's Donald Carr, who will appear all three nights of the festival.

Carr will perform "Full Nelson," a deeply-personal dance, song and storytelling piece that pays homage to Nelson Mandela.

"I believe that we should celebrate beautiful people when they're alive," Carr said from his home in Toronto.

Carr, who has worked with the National Ballet of Canada and Black Theatre Canada, said he hopes to bridge the gap between performer and audience.

"If all the world's a stage, which world is more real, that of the actor or the audience?" he asked quizzically.

More entertainment will come from Western Arctic Moving Pictures, which will feature pieces from WAMP president Diane Boudreau and member Alexandre Beaudin.

"We want to motivate people to make short videos," Boudreau said of WAMP's involvement.

Another interesting piece will come from Yellowknife's DragonFly Theatre, which will present a reading of Northern Sprites, a work-in-progress.

"It's a fun, lyrical piece that positions astral elements against each other," said writer Jodi Woolam of the group's second original work. Despite the pleasure Wainwright takes from his promotion, he said there are dangers.

"It acts like a bit of a sail," he said of the huge sign overhead.

"When it gets windy I have to keep rocks in my pockets."