This review will be focusing on the book version of the play and not on a performance of the play.
Ben Elton is one of my favourite comedy writers, I love 'The Young Ones' and grew up watching 'Blackadder' and in more recent years have become more aware of his work as a satirist and author. Elton was arguably the number one stand up of the 1980s here in the UK famous for his swipes at the Tory government and Baroness Thatcher whilst she was Prime Minister.
'Gasping' is Ben Elton's first play and was first performed in 1990 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. It is a satire based around big business in London. The dominant chairman of a multi million pound company is bored with making money from his current business and wants to find a 'Pot Noodle' which is described as a product that creates its own market and makes money without fighting for money from other markets. His idiotic toffy nosed subordinate Philip is asked to develop a new product that is a 'Pot Noodle'. Philip goes away with his own subordinate and finds this technology that is designed to help sufferers with hay fever by sucking in oxygen and cleaning it to make it pure and free of pollen. Philip surmises that instead of using it for its medical applications you could use it to create designer air, creating a market for branded air just like the market for designer water. There is one slight issue with the item, when it sucks in oxygen it outputs carbon dioxide to make sure the pressure in the atmosphere doesn't get ruined of course this also means that there is less oxygen available to breath. There is a side plot of Philip trying to pop his cherry with the executive ad woman that he hires to promote the 'Pot Noodle' which is branded the 'Suck and Blow'. Eventually a global situation of the rich being the only ones able to afford to breath leads to Philip suffering a breakdown before coming back in a tense dramatic final scene filled with black comedy.
I have read this play probably upwards of 20 times and each time I notice new things I never took stock of before. It is a very good read however I do have a few issues with the piece.
1. It has not aged well. Whilst the themes are still current the fact that it is set in the late 80s very early 90s means you really have to have lived or worked at that time to get all the references to yuppiness and fax machines.
2. The side story is distracting and not fully formed, whilst it does round out the play and add another dimension to the story I feel that in the end it does not entirely work.
3. The central character Philip. Philip is a fool who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has risen through the ranks for no apparent reason. He is a yuppie prat and when you look at the original casting for the play, he was originally played by Hugh Laurie, it looks like the part was written for only one actor. It also seems as if the character is a descendant of George from Blackadder, also played by Laurie, which makes it hard to read the script objectively.
Although I have these problems with this piece I have enjoyed it immensely and it did lead me to read more Ben Elton work in his novel 'Blind Faith' which is another piece of satire but set in a dystopian future England. I recommend it as a piece of business satire and as a starting point for anyone interested in seeing where the writer of 'We Will Rock You' began his stage writing career. I give it all in all a 3 out of 5 stars rating and would love to see it performed.
