And how do you explore the dramatic implications of a Beckett play about death in a culture where death is regarded as "just another journey"?

These are just some of the dilemmas faced by an Irish actress and director involved in one of this year's most unusual Beckett centenary celebrations. Beckett specialist Sarah-Jane Scaife is exploring the universality of her hero's work by bringing it to theatre groups or university students in Asia and Greece. The project is being funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and she has already given workshops and staged Beckett plays in India. She will soon be doing the same in Singapore and Malaysia and her cultural and anthropological odyssey will reach China and Greece this September.

The idea of exploring the universality of Beckett's work came to Scaife in Outer Mongolia. In 2002 she helped the State Theatre put on that country's first production of Waiting For Godot and found she was working with people who did not mind waiting.

"Their cultural and spiritual influences were Buddhism, Confucianism and Shamanism, " she explains. "They had grown up as nomads and waiting was simply seen as part of life's journey. They also didn't seem to get the masterslave relationship in Godot and didn't understand the West's preoccupation with personal angst and personal space. They were used to living closely together."

All this led Scaife to realise that some of Beckett's themes were not quite so "universal" after all and now, each time she explores his work in a very different culture, she sees herself as "a guinea pig representing the west. I get a chance to examine my own preconceptions each time. Western philosophy is based on the individual but in Asia it's often based on the group and each person's relationship to the group."

Her cultural adventures will form the basis of five radio documentaries which will be broadcast by RT�?.

In India "the actors really got into Beckett's work, " she reveals.

"The Adishakti Theatre Company were trained dancers and musicians. They could go with the shape and sound of the work and came to understand some of the meaning. But they didn't understand the huge overpowering thing about death. A woman member of the audience said 'What is it with you in the west' Why do you worry about death so much?' They have a huge sense of spirituality."

In India the audience sat on the floor and the theatre's doors were open throughout the performance.

"You could hear dogs barking and a radio in the village. Somehow it all added to the play."

Scaife's love affair with Beckett started 20 years ago when she performed in his play, Act Without Word s in Dublin's Peacock Theatre. Now in her 40s, she is in demand at home and abroad as a director, performer and teacher of Beckett's work and regularly teaches at Trinity College, UCD and New York University's Dublin programme. In her 20s she spent four years in New York studying and performing theatre and dance and is now regarded as an expert on movement in theatre.

So does she think her hero would approve of her far-flung explorations of his work? "I think Beckett wants us to question everything, " she said. "So I hope he would find it interesting."