On the first day of the school's founding anniversary the atmosphere was highly charged. The student group fair was held, where everybody would be welcome to come around and purchase some various souvenirs that students had made by hand. Wilhelm and his friends were active getting their act together both for the performance of "Merchant of Venice" later in the day.
Wilhelm, Elias, Göran, Tanja, and all the other artists were busy putting on makeup in the dressing room. Inger had taken a day off from work to see her son's performance. And Lena was currently free from rehearsals for her next part as Ophelia in "Hamlet" and as a result she was there to take in the performance of this close male friend.
From the very beginning, the action involves the audience in the play. Göran, playing Shylock, was harassing a debtor for the 50 taels the man had borrowed from him and taken over his shop. But Antonio, played by Wilhelm, and Bassanio, who Elias was playing, chanced on the scene.
It was the intervention of Antonio coupled with an insult to Shylock that made the situation worse. Shylock was further resentful because apart from failing to seize the store of the debtor, he also suffered a verbal challenge from Antonio.
At the end of the first scene, Wilhelm and his friends were both apprehensive and eager They had been working for two weeks, and now was the time to show something in front of the school community.
"I think that went pretty well," Wilhelm said as he looked through his friends. "We just need to keep the energy up and stay focused."
Goran nodded. "Yes, I think for now we're okay. Let's keep going like this."
Thus Wilhelm and his friends had a shared feeling of being bound and excited as they prepared for the rest of the performance which they hoped to pull off successfully.