Gasping

In this sharp-witted satire on the ludicrous, dangerous endgame of commodification, Ben Elton pushes the logic of capitalism through to its ridiculous and alarming conclusion. 'Gasping', first presented in 1990 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, is a whirl of innuendo, an exuberant mockery of yuppie culture and a scintillating parody of corporate greed. When Philip is challenged by his boss to find a new way of making money from nothing, he invents the Suck and Blow machine and along with it the business of air. But as the market for oxygen grows, the world's supply is diminishing.