Nigel (Gareth Cooper) arrives at a failing further education college to replace the Deputy Head of Faculty. He joins board members, a group of peculiar and dysfunctional principals and faculty directors. Nigel soon realises that the college is deep in trouble, facing budget cuts, meddling with child labour and other controversies. He only has a limited amount of time to come up with a plan before Dame Helen, the Chair of Governors (Annie Brett) pays the board a visit. He soon realises however that after his blog has been hijacked, he also becomes surrounded by controversy and needs saving. Directed by Andrew Loudon, the play opened at Upstairs at the Gatehouse on the first day of the Camden Fringe Festival. While this satirical play had the potential to present an evening of clever humour, sadly neither the script nor the performances are strong enough to deliver a solid comedy.

The play’s slapstick humour often feels forced and uncomfortable, and many gags such as the hammy fake laughs, predictable drawings of penises and other sexual innuendos are far too familiar and clichéd especially within the school environment. Some moments land successfully and are welcomed with laughter, but past the halftime mark the play does become slower and slightly repetitive.

Barry Fyfield’s script, inspired by his own experiences with funding cuts, Ofsted inspections and college managers, is so surreal that I simply couldn’t invest in it, and, unfortunately, I failed to connect with his characters as well. At the Heart of Everything came across as a confused narrative, with several plot twists that instead of adding to the play, merely overcomplicated and overstretched it.

The ensemble has some well-timed, good moments together, but they unfortunately can’t keep the energy up throughout, and so the comedic effect is often lowered. Christopher Knott as Frank was a highlight for me as he had a consistent and carefully constructed character. Cooper’s moments of physical comedy are also funny and entertaining, and his character is certainly one of the more engaging roles vital for the protagonist.

At the Heart of Everything might have had the intention to comment on college managers and the absurd process of finding sources of funding or an Ofsted inspection, but at times it feels like the comedy is trying too hard and relies too heavily on gags that have been done before.

At the Heart of Everything is playing Upstairs at the Gatehouse until 5 August 2016. For more information and tickets, see the Upstairs at the Gatehouse website.