SCR Cancels Premiere of ‘Infinity’s House’

South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa has called off the world premiere of Ellen McLaughlin’s “Infinity’s House,” which was to have been the centerpiece of the theater’s first California Play Festival in the spring.

“We had hoped the script would be ready to go into rehearsal but it has not evolved to that point,” South Coast artistic director David Emmes said Thursday. “This will not affect the festival. We are hopeful that we may be able to find a new play.”

When South Coast announced its 1988-89 season, hopes for “Infinity’s House” were extraordinarily high. It was described as a 36-character drama about the nation’s destiny, taking place in the desert and moving in time between construction of the railroads and the testing of the atom bomb.

The script was considered so promising that South Coast received a $64,000 grant from the Fund for New American Plays--the largest of eight given to regional nonprofit theaters across the country--to help underwrite staging costs.

Deborah Dixon, the Fund project director, said from Washington that South Coast would have to return the grant unless it decides to produce the play at a later date. But Emmes seemed to rule that out.

The production, which had been scheduled to run April 21-May 25, would have been the largest undertaken in the Tony Award-winning company’s 25-year history.

McLaughlin, a San Francisco playwright and actress, could not be reached for comment on the decision to drop the production. But, said Emmes, “I don’t know that she would concur.”

A $43,500 challenge grant from the California Arts Council for the play festival does not appear threatened, as it “was not specifically linked to any property,” Emmes said. Officials of the council could not be reached for confirmation.