The atmosphere had charged up as the next scene opened. Bassanio desperately needed funds to travel to Belmont to see his lady love, Portia, and to take part in the three chests fortune-telling ceremony. But Antonio had little money with him as his merchant ship took three months to reach Venice.
Hence, he reluctantly agreed to act as a guarantor for Bassanio by borrowing money from Shylock, although he did not want to. For it was because Antonio confronted Shylock earlier, and he knows this might be the most perilous deal.
But Shylock was proud of heart, thinking this was his opportunity to take revenge on Antonio. He offered a loan of 3000 taels to Antonio and Bassanio without interest but with the stipulation that, if Antonio failed to find the money to pay his debt as due, then so should Antonio allow Shylock to slaughter 1 pound of his flesh in substitute payment for the debt against 3000 taels.
The atmosphere was so tense that one could see the audience sitting on tenterhooks. Wilhelm's portrayal as Antonio was great in respect to the fear and desperation his character feels in this moment of crisis.
Finally, the scene was over, and Wilhelm, along with his friends, took a deep breath and looked at each other in relief. "That was intense," Elias said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Yeah, I really could feel the tension," Tanja added.
Göran nodded, "We're doing really good so far. Let's keep it up."
That Wilhelm and his friends were able to get through most of the performance to this point provided for him and fellow actors with a sense of pride and accomplishment. They were telling an important story, and they were telling it well.