accompaniment, and with varied themes. The movements are broadly similar to Noh dances. The often archaic language used in the lyrics and the chanted delivery means that these chants are often not understandable to a contemporary audience. Kyōgen today Today, kyōgen is performed and practiced regularly, both in major cities (especially Tokyo and Osaka) and throughout the country, and is featured on cultural television programs. In addition to the performances during Noh plays, it is also performed independently, generally in programs of three to five plays. New kyogen are written regularly, though few new plays enter the repertoire. Particularly significant is , written and directed by Tetsuji Takechi in 1953, during his post-Kabuki theater work. Based on a medieval French farce, this play became the first new kyōgen to enter the traditional repertoire in a century. In rare cases bilingual kyōgen or fusion of kyōgen with Western forms has been done. An early example is the group Mei-no-kai, consisting of kyōgen, Noh, and shingeki actors, who staged Beckett's Waiting for Godot in 1973; the kyōgen acting was best received. A notable example is the Noho Theatre group, based in Kyoto, under the direction of American Jonah Salz and primary acting by Akira Shigeyama. This group has performed a bilingual Japanese/English translation of Susugigawa termed The Henpecked Husband, together with works by Samuel Beckett, notably the mime Act Without Words I, performed by a kyōgen actor in Japanese theatrical style (first performed 1981). This latter features kyōgen movements and Japanese cultural adaptations – for example, the nameless character contemplates suicide not by holding scissors to his throat (as per stage directions), but to his stomach, as if contemplating hara-kiri. Unusually for a Beckett adaptation, which are usually strictly controlled by Beckett and his estate, this was presented to Beckett and met with his approval. The distinctive diction of kyōgen is also occasionally used in other media, with kyōgen actors working as voice actors. An example is the animated movie by Kōji Yamamura, based on "A Country Doctor" by Franz Kafka, where the voices are performed by the Shigeyama family. As with Noh, many Japanese are familiar with kyōgen only through learning about it in school or television performances. A play frequently featured in textbooks is , where the servants Tarō-kaja and Jirō-kaja are entrusted with some sugar by their master, but told not to eat it, as it is poison; naturally,