"It's on hold until Edward finishes the rewrites," director Lawrence Sacharow told Playbill On-Line.

Lorca has been looming just off the Off-Broadway horizon for some time now. Previous reports had it arriving in 2001, 2002 and 2003. For now, Albee and Sacharow are busy with the coming collection of one-acts, Beckett/Albee, due at the Century Center Sept. 23.

Albee told Playbill On-Line that the next play he will complete will be Home Life, a sort of prequel to his The Zoo Story, which will have its world premiere at Hartford Stage in spring 2004.

Albee actually penned The Lorca Play nearly a decade ago. Lorca would mark the latest teaming of Sacharow and Albee, who have also worked together on Three Tall Women at the Vineyard Theatre. That production effectively started an Albee renaissance which has yet to abate.

Lorca may represent Albee's grandest narrative canvas to date. The play encompasses 36 characters played by 16 actors. "It's a very big epic production," said Sacharow. "The wonderful thing about Albee is he's so eclectic. It's unlike anything he's ever done." Lorca will be Albee's third work to deal with a historical figure, following his early one-act The Death of Bessie Smith and the more recent The Occupant, which starred Anne Bancroft as sculptor Louise Nevelson, at the Signature Theatre Company.