August Snow melts and Night Dance has its final turn Jan. 10, 1999 at the Mint Theater Company in New York City. The plays -- New York premieres -- by North Carolina novelist Reynolds Price, received their New York premieres in previews Nov. 3, 1998.

The plays were originally scheduled to run in repertory, playing separately on some nights and paired on others, but Mint spokesman David Gersten said audiences wanted to see the 90-minute works together, so the schedule changed accordingly after the official opening Nov. 12, 1998.

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Price authored of such novels as "A Long and Happy Life" (William Faulkner Award), "Kate Vaiden" (National Book Critics Circle Award) and the recent "Roxanna Slade." His two dramas, which began the Mint Theater's seventh season, trace the history of the Averys, a North Carolina family facing life changes in 1937 (in August Snow) and eight years later, at the end of World War II (in Night Dance).

The plays originally premiered in 1989 at the Cleveland Play House. Jonathan Bank, artistic director of the Mint, staged the works featuring Lisa Bostnar, Allyn Burrows, Michael Williams Connors, Donna Davis, Patricia Dunnock, Chris Payne Gilbert and Stephen Payne.

Designers are Vicki R. Davis (set), Mark T. Simpson (lighting) and John Kristiansen (costumes).

Tickets are $20-$25.

The Mint Theater is at 311 West 43rd St., on the fifth floor. Call (212) 315 0231 for information.

-- By Kenneth Jones