In A Not So Quiet Nocturne, a young, deaf black woman has contracted AIDS from her dead husband and then gives birth to an AIDS-infected baby. When it dies, she must not only contend with her family but help raise her nephew, who has fallen victim to the lures of the urban streets -- the life that killed his father.

Nocture is part two of Jaye Austin Williams' AIDS trilogy, which began with Passion Play: A Parable. Austin-Williams, partially deaf, "strives to make deafness visible to hearing people and to bring the two worlds together." Onyx Theatre Company, dedicated to the growth of deaf artists of color, will present Nocture Jan. 15-Feb. 2 at New York's Vineyard Theatre on East 26th St.

Michele Banks plays the lead, Charlyn, and she's complemented by Darren Boone, Ann Marie Bryan, Robin Cornett, Rodney Gilbert, Laura Johnston, Jomo Kalman, Jon Malmed, Lewis Merkin, Walker Richards, Nancy Rogers, Joan Valentina, Bernadine Vivani, Lisa Weems and Devernie Winston. Cornell Riggs designed the set, Ann Marie Duggan & Kristina Kloss the lighting, Joanna Cummings the costumes and Mio Morales the sound.

Onyx Theatre Company debuted in 1990 with There's Butter But No Bread and went on to produce Black Women's Stories: One Deaf Experience and a 1991 revival of For Colored Girls....

Both the NY State Council On The Arts and the Vineyard Theatre space were donated to Onyx for this production, which opens Jan. 17. For tickets ($12) and information call (212) 353-3874 (voice) or (212) 633-9618 (TTY). --By David Lefkowitz