This poster advertises Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas from the novel by Hunter S. Thompson, at London's Fortune Theatre, originally produced by the Gate Theatre Club in Battersea. The theatre club was started in 1979 by the American director and writer Lou Stein in a room above the Prince Albert Pub in Notting Hill Gate. Dedicated to producing the best works of foreign writers, by 1981 the Gate established itself as one of London's best fringe venues, along with the King's Head and the Bush. In 1982 for the original production of this play, the club expanded to include a brand-new custom-built studio theatre above the Latchmere Pub in Battersea.

The play opened at the Fortune on 6 May 1982 starring Jeffery Chiswick as Dr Gonzo and Stewart Fox as Raoul Duke, two hallucinating opportunists who dupe the rich in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, travelling across the desert in a Cadillac called the White Whale. The Ralph Steadman illustration on the poster captures the manic tone of the production, described by one critic as 'a reckless suicidal farce'.