ANOTHER DELAY FOR THEATRE CENTER

The Los Angeles Theatre Center’s opening has been delayed again. Artistic Producing Director William Bushnell and his Los Angeles Actors’ Theatre staff were originally scheduled to take occupancy of the $15-million performing arts complex at 5th and Spring streets March 1; then the date was moved to June 20. The newest projection is Sept. 20.

“The delay has been essentially created by a series of construction problems, many of which we couldn’t identify until we started digging,” Bushnell said this week. “A concrete building with electrical and audio systems buried in the walls created more complications than anyone knew. We didn’t have finished designs when we started, and this wet December didn’t help.”

Compounding the problems of refurbishing the 1916 building was a building design on file with the city that didn’t comply with the earthquake code (which didn’t exist in 1916) and a slowdown in the delivery of materials (such as concrete), brought about by traffic restrictions during the summer Olympics.

In the meantime, the LAAT has finalized its opening-season schedule, once it moves into the new site (which will house several theaters). At the 323-seat Theatre Three, Lamont Johnson will direct the American premiere of “Nanawatai,” William Mastrosimone’s play about Afghanistan’s resistance to Soviet occupation (which he is said to have witnessed firsthand), opening Sept. 23. Mayo Simon’s “A Rich Full Life,” which deals with the restlessness of a Santa Monica housewife, follows Nov. 14.

At Theater One, which will seat 499, a new translation of Anton Chekhov’s “The Three Sisters” will be directed by Norway’s Stein Winge, starting Sept. 19. Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Charles Marowitz, follows Oct. 31.

Sept. 19 is also opening night for the Mabou Mines latest work, created for the Theatre Center, which will play at the 99-seat Discovery Series site. (Bushnell would also like to bring in the San Francisco Mime Troupe and El Teatro Campesino at some point.) On Sept. 26, the Magic Theatre/Circle Repertory production of Sam Shepard’s “Fool for Love” opens for an indefinite run.

At the 299-seat Theatre Two, Al Rossi will direct the West Coast premiere of Joyce Carol Oates’ “The Triumph of the Spider Monkey.”

On March 8 a new play by Len Jenkins, called “Five of Us,” goes in at Taper, Too after Spalding Gray’s delayed departure. (He’s been extended through Feb. 17.) “Five of Us” runs through March 31. Tony Abatemarco directs.

Gray’s two-part monologue, “Swimming to Cambodia,” was scheduled to close last Sunday at Taper, Too, but word had gotten around about what a funny and vivid and touching tale Gray has to tell--he’s an actor whose best play is his own life.

Back downtown at the Mark Taper Forum’s main stage, the June repertory schedule has been set. “Undiscovered Country,” the Tom Stoppard version of Arthur Schnitzler’s “Das Weite Land,” opens June 8. Ken Ruta directs. And Robert Egan directs Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure,” which opens June 13.

There’s still no word on what will follow on the departing heels of Marsha Norman’s “Traveler in the Dark.” The Taper was considering “Fool for Love” until it got wind that Bushnell was doing it. “That shows that we do have ethics in the theater,” Bushnell said.

LATE CUES: Linda Callahan has been named artistic director for the Ensemble Studio Theatre/L.A. . . . Karen Black and Anjelica Huston join the cast of “Tamara” at the Il Vittoriale on Friday. . . . Paul Krassner is back at the Pipeline with a new act called “Attacking Decency in General With Paul Krassner,” starting Feb. 15.