1924. Vane's play, set in the lounge of a small ocean liner, casts a collection of people on a fateful journey across the Styx with an ordinary boat steward as their Charon. At first they do not realize they are dead, but when they are finally convinced that this is no ordinary journey, they decide to combine forces for the purpose of meeting the Examiner, who is to come aboard at the end of the journey. When the Examiner sorts out the sheep from the goats, there are surprises in store for the passengers. Two of them, a young couple, are not called: they are half-ways, two suicides who refuse to face life. Now, with this momentous choice before them, they finally decide to return to the world, which they may face with greater courage.