Gasp! at State Theatre Centre of Western Australia

Black Swan State Theatre Company

Imagine a world in which the air we breathe is just another commodity like food and fuel. Something that can be bought and sold according to market forces. How much do you think you’d have to breathe?

This was the darkly comic premise on which Ben Elton based his first play, the hilarious and critically acclaimed satirical comedy Gasping.

The play was first produced in 1990 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London’s West End. It starred Hugh Laurie and ran for a triumphant year and a half. Now Ben Elton has revisited his original play and re-imagined it for a new century and a new country. This major rewrite relocates the story to an Australia grown giddy on the resources boom. It’s now called Gasp!. And it’s as relevant and as hil‘air’ious as ever.

Ben Elton has written fourteen bestselling books including Popcorn and Inconceivable, some of TV’s most popular comedy series (Blackadder, The Young Ones) as well as West End plays and the hit musical We Will Rock You.