Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre has canceled its plans for a live streaming performance of "The History Boys."

The theater company, which performs at the Stephen Foster Memorial in Oakland, was unable to reach an agreement with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Actors' Equity Association,

Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theater had planned to offer this Saturday's 8 p.m. performance "The History Boy" as a test run for its streaming Web portal, LIPLO -- the acronym for "Live and In Person and Live and On-line. Had it been successful there were plans to expand the live, online performances of the season's upcoming plays, "Crime and Punishment" in September and "Jane Eyre" in December.

"New media and live streaming pose great challenges to the unions who seek to claim stake to the enormous financial potential it may yield," says Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre operations director Stephanie Riso in a letter sent to the media as well as the company's cast, crew and staff. "However, it is my hope that the silver lining in this temporary setback would be (Actors' Equity Association) and (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) start a meaningful dialogue to create a framework by which live streaming can be tested and/or developed and finally brought to market."

Maria Somma, spokeswoman for Actors' Equity Association, declined to comment.

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