Sam, so famously shy and reserved. Sam, who shunned celebrity. Sam, who wrote that leaving Dublin to settle in France was like "coming out of gaol in April". What would he think of the champagne, the glamour, the glitz, all taking place in his honour this month in Dublin, London and Paris?

Beckett always hoped it would be his work, rather than the story of his life, which would outlast him. And, of course, it has. Nonetheless, this austere, quiet man, who went into hiding when he won the Nobel Prize, would surely have been bemused . . . at the very least . . . at the sight of Bono turning up to launch the official Beckett Centenary earlier this month.

It would be a pity, however, if Beckett's appropriation by the establishment were to turn away newcomers to his work. For behind the clinking glasses lies real substance. Although it is obscure, absurd and austere, Beckett's writing, filled with humour, darkness and compassion, has real ability . . . as pointed out by Scottish theatre critic Joyce McMillan at the opening of the Beckett Symposium in Trinity College last week . . . to reach out to people, especially young people, who are living in the confused space that is the 21st century.

Cut adrift . . . at least superficially . . .from cultural references, his work, concerned as it is with life's ongoing struggle, translates across boundaries: a Serbian friend recalls reading him when she was 18, believing he was speaking directly to her in her adolescent turmoil.

When Beckett died, his grave was strewn with messages, some written in Chinese and Japanese. "Beckett, " writes his biographer James Knowlson, "was loved by many people."

So one must hope that this month of April 2006 will invite some to renew their love for Beckett, and others to love him for the first time. Certainly, the Beckett Centenary Festival has the potential to do so.

The opening symposium in Trinity began with a conversation . . . between Joyce McMillan, writer Frank McGuinness, critic Fintan O'Toole and American academic and critic Jonathan Kalb . . . which was serious and dedicated, but not reverential. This is, perhaps, also a way of describing the work of Gare St Lazare Players, the Paris-based theatrical company which has long defined itself by its interpretations of Beckett, particularly the writer's prose pieces.

As part of this festival, the company presents Access All Beckett, a series of texts performed in two locations . . . the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and the Irish Financial Services Centre on Dublin's Docklands . . . on alternate days throughout this week. Although Beckett did not intend his prose works to be performed, Gare St Lazare's interpretations, particularly those taken on by Irish actor Conor Lovett, described as the "definitive Beckett actor", have often turned them into sublimely enjoyable pieces of spoken monologue. Lovett has a droll, understated presence, and . . .

despite his years living abroad . . . a discernable Cork accent; he manages to impose himself upon the work without crushing it with his weight, helping to give a lightness to even the darkest pieces of work. If there is a highlight to this week's series, it promises to be Lovett's performance in the Irish premiere of the play A Piece of Monologue, directed by Walter Asmus, long-time collaborator and friend of Beckett.

Contemporary Irish theatre company Bedrock Productions is also taking on A Piece of Monologue, as part of an evening of work entitled Beckett's Ghosts . . . which also includes performances of seldom-performed plays That Time, Breath and Not I. Bedrock has distinguished itself in the past as an uncompromising theatrical force; recent work, such as the cutting edge Pale Angel, is proof that the company is equipped to tackle Beckett's extremes and, for this occasion, Bedrock artistic director Jimmy Fay has enlisted the help of Jason Byrne, artistic director of Loose Canon theatre company, and performance artist Amanda Coogan. It is a challenging task, but then Bedrock has never shrunk from a challenge. Beckett's Ghosts begins on 13 April.

The Gate Theatre is intimately associated with Beckett. Its artistic director, Michael Colgan, is chair of the Beckett Centenary Festival, and was one of the instigators of the celebrated Beckett on Film series. The theatre has been involved in Beckett festivals in the past . . . producing all 19 of Beckett's plays in 1991, touring with the same festival to New York's Lincoln Center in 1996 and to London's Barbican Centre in 1999. For this festival, this time in conjunction with the Barbican, the theatre is reprising a selection of these works. The highlights promise to be Endgame, starring Tom Hickey, Krapp's Last Tape, starring John Hurt, and a production viewed as the definitive Waiting for Godot, starring Barry McGovern and Johnny Murphy and directed by Walter Asmus.

More details are available at www. beckettcentenaryfestival. ie. Have fun. And the moment you think you can't go . . . go on.