Scene opens. Bassanio informs Portia. News is about a cargo ship misfortune. It pertains to Antonio. Portia's sympathies for Antonio rise. She gives Bassanio 20 times more. The purpose is to return Shylock his money. Shylock has seen the opportunity of evening with Antonio. Consequently, he refused to take the money.
Göran made this cruel, stubborn man vivid on stage. He was portraying Shylock. The amount of vividness was so great that one could easily think it was Shylock himself on stage. Göran refuses to yield. It was when Portia pleadingly asked for mercy. His response was firm on one point on having his pound of flesh.
The tension was real as the scene opened with Portia, disguised as a barrister, entering the court of law. She did her best to reason with Shylock, but he refused to give way. Finally, Portia relented and allowed Shylock to take his pound of flesh, on condition that he not spill any blood and not take too much or too little of it, lest he suffer death and the confiscation of his property.
Göran, acting the part of Shylock, menacingly raised his knife to cut open Wilhelm acting the role of Antonio. The tension of the scene reached such a pitch that the audience held its breath. Just then, when Göran was about to make the cut, Tanja as Portia stopped him.
This was a scene where Shylock lost the case and had his assets confiscated. Göran actually did a really nice performance, which allowed the audience to feel the anger and frustration within the character because of the realization that he had lost everything.
Upon the completion of the scene. All actors paused. They caught their breath. Practice of mutual congratulations then began. "Wow. That was heavy." Elias spoke. He wiped sweat off his brow.
Göran nodded in agreement. "I must admit it was a challenging scene. Yet, I believe all of us have done exemplary work," he stated.
Wilhelm joined in. "I felt palpable tension in the room. It was like we had been in a real courtroom," he described.
Then Tanja expressed her satisfaction. "We all portrayed our characters excellently. Acting was fantastic," she beamed. "We all played our parts with much skill. We were outstanding actors," she continued while smiling. The atmosphere was one of joy and camaraderie amongst the group. They had accomplished something truly meaningful.