What is X? A pretty standard community college set. Painted plywood building fronts (Venice). Ant. and Bas. sitting / standing on some stairs, dressed plainly (period clothing) chatting casually. Ant.- Big hearted, gentle, good friend. Bas.- Good guy, but takes advantage of people's kindness. Shlyler- also a good guy, just out to make a buck- no true friends. He's kinda slick-looking. Portia's home- super fancy, every comfort. Portia- naive, knockout. Believes and is looking for true love, but wants to be respectful of her deceased father's wishes. Nerissa- very kind but jealous of Portia's beauty and wealth. She believes Portia should obey her father's wishes. Secretly, she hopes Portia's search for love will fail.
What does X do? Bas. will win Portia, but she will find him out in the end. However, she loves him and pays his debts. Nerissa is pissed; both that she finds love and falls for a deadbeat (a wasted fortune). Ant. pays his debts and keeps his friend, and starts to see Shyler for the good person he is. The audience will find ALL this cheesy, but who doesn't love cheese?!
What will X mean? X will mean that everyone lives happily every after. The actors / audience will be mildly disapointed at having been through this drawn-out cliche, but will go home with happy feelings.