Gasping

runs until Saturday GASPING, Ben Elton's first play, ran in the West End for nine and a half months in 1990. Now, this brilliant hit comedy has arrived in Manchester, the city where the stand-up comedian once studied drama.

Within 30 second of opening, Gasping harvested its first laugh, setting out its stall for the night.

The story is about Philip (David Haig), who dreams up a "designer air" machine for his boss Sir "Can do, Must have", Lockheart (Neil Stacey). After all, who wants to "breathe in bus driver's farts" in an age when even water comes out of a designer bottle?

So off we go, with Philip's clone Sandy (Stephen Mapes) and marketing minx Kirsten Carlton (Iona Grant) in tow, all spouting corporate-speak to hilarious effect.

The whole thing has Ben Elton written all over it - with anti-Thatcherism, rude gags and quick-fire wit aplenty. In true Elton-fashion, too, the story takes on farcical dimensions when the underlying ideas are driven to their ultimate limit.

A stand-up comedian at heart, the one-liners in this production are superb and the acting - especially by David Haig (of Thin Blue Line and The Bill fame) - is simply first class.

The whole show, directed by Paul Jepson, is very polished indeed, and designer Christopher Oram deserves praise for his deceptively simple, yet slick sets.

A complete sell out, this show wasn't - at least not on the first night - but it surely deserves to be. Irma Heger

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.