Writers: Caleb Mercer and Morgan Long
Director: Amy Shelmerdine
Spinal Shell Society kicks off the first day of the 2026 Camden Fringe Festival with their afterlife-inspired piece, Charon Gies West, running for just 50 minutes at the Etcetera Theatre before transferring to the Courtyard later in the month. Focusing on cosmic debt and the chance to meet eight separate characters being ferried to the afterlife, Caleb Mercer and Morgan Long’s play may not always hit the comedy notes, but its philosophical reflections on the exhaustive repetition of death show promise.
It is Charon’s first day as Ferryman for the underworld, here to pay his debt and still trying to figure out the manual to make the boat work. But as endless time wears on, Charon’s debt only seems to rise, and with no idea what he’s doing wrong, Charon tries to contact his mysterious “boss” who never answers. Why is he here? Who are these people, and will he ever be released from this place?
Without having to quite picture either heaven or hell – both of which appear to be a possible destination – Mercer and Long create this transitory place effectively along with the repetitive routine of Charon’s (or “Charlie’ as he is known) day, asking the same questions to everyone about when they were happiest and their biggest regret. The answers don’t prove as meaningful or cumulatively interesting as they might be; however, the concept is an effective one and future iterations of the show could consider how these answers help Charon to think about his own choices and how he ended up here in purgatory rather than a less ambiguous death.
The same is true of the series of characters along for the ride who, while amusingly broad, never fully deliver on their comic or reflective potential. For dramatic momentum and purpose, these need to push Charon not only towards despair but also to put him in the spotlight, clarifying his story for the audience. And while the eclectic nature of an early human, a Freud-like psychiatrist, an uptight American busybody and an AI device are imaginative, they all need to move Charon’s story forward, to be devices that reveal him and his options to the audience. And having fewer of them but expanding the conversations may help to chip away at his resilience so the audience better understands the conclusion and the arrival of people he knew in life.
Performed by Mercer as Charon alongside Samya De Meo and Beko Wood as everyone else, the scenario creation is strong and characterisation well-ranged. Giving Charon a slightly hapless quality is quite endearing, offering lots of empathetic development opportunities, but for a show set in the afterlife, too much of Charon’s life and death remains a mystery.
Runs until 17 August 2026
Camden Fringe 2026 runs until 30 August
