Zend Controller: get controller instance from within a plugin

Hello all,

Can I get an action controller instance from within a controller
plugin (class MyPlugin extends Zend_Controller_Plugin_Abstract).
The method, described in the manual, seems to be no longer valid:

        $dispatcher = Zend_Controller_Front::getInstance()->getDispatcher();
        $controller = $dispatcher->getController($request);

I have the following:

class IndexController extends Zend_Controller_Action {

        public $layout = 'default';

        ......
and I need to access the value of $layout from the plugin, therefore I
am trying to get an IndexController.

Any advise ?