Devised, Composed and Performed by Shaaray Sharif
Devised, Composed and Performed by Shaaray Sharif
This performance is a multisensory sonic installation and performance developed in response to a personal experience of discomfort and sexual harassment in a public space.
The work is set up to evoke the atmosphere of a bar; a table with a small red light, a pint, and a notebook. Audience seating is arranged in small clusters, like that of bar tables, a scent of beer fills the space, and the surround sound is delivered through five speakers positioned circularly around the audience, taking inspiration from Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller’s The Forty Part Motet.
Service Charge holds space for the often unseen emotional and physical labour carried in public by marginalised bodies. It is a performance about the quiet violences we endure, and the internalised weight of being hyper-visible yet unheard. Through the layering of sound, scent, space, and performance, Shaaray reclaims a personal narrative from the site of its disruption and invites the audience into a space of discomfort, confrontation, and ultimately, reflection. This work refuses resolution. Instead, it lingers in the hum and the ache, asking what it means to listen, not just to sound, but to the confrontational realities we often ignore.
The sound in Service Charge shifts gradually from a steady hum to a more intense build up of layered sounds and text, reflecting the progression of unease to discomfort. The composition includes edited deconstructed text and glass clinking, all designed to echo the unease and disruption at the heart of the work. Influenced by Camille Norment’s work on vibration, the sound is designed to resonate in the body, emphasising the internal impact of external encounters.
Performed in May 2024, and presented at the Palastinian Society's Fundraiser April 2025