Not to be confused with Leslie Jordan's campy Off-Broadway hit of 1994, Hysterical Blindness, a new comedy/drama, will open Feb. 12 at the Seanachai Theatre Company's space on West 29th St. Unlike the musical bio of a gay man's struggle to make it as a TV star, this Blindness tells of two working-class friends, Debby and Beth, who frequent a New Jersey bar. Debby desires change, Beth longs for the old days and both want dates.

Author Laura Cahill has had works staged at Naked Angels (The Way) and Ensemble Studio Theatre (Home, Last Dance, Jersey Girls Go To The Park, while director Jared Harris (son of actor Richard Harris), is gaining recognition as a film actor (the title role in I Shot Andy Warhol). Harris' stage appearances include Off-Broadway's Ecstasy and New York Shakespeare Festival's King Lear. Harris and Cahill are the founders of this new company, Seanachai, which is an Irish phrase for "storyteller."

Also appearing in Hysterical Blindness, which begins previews Feb. 7, are Wendy Makkena (of cinema's Sister Act), Jill Larson (TV's "All My Children"), Bill Sage (the films If Lucy Fell and Simple Men), Tim Williams and William Wise (Broadway's Ah Wilderness revival with Jason Robards).

For tickets ($12) and information on Hysterical Blindness, which runs at the `A' Theatre at 154 West 29th St. through March 2, call (212) 995-8949.

--By David Lefkowitz