Riot of Resolis play inspired by real-life historical events on Black Isle set for showcase at Cromarty Crime & Thrillers Weekend
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There are hopes that a play based on the story of a historical riot on the Black Isle may get the chance to tour the area later in the year.
The Riot Of Resolis which tells the story of an incident in Cromarty in 1843 when locals rescued a protestor who had been jailed in the courthouse there, is being staged as part of the Cromarty Crime & Thrillers Weekend next month.
On Friday, May 6 there will be two performances of the play in the Victoria Hall written by Jon Palmer who runs The Cheese Shop in The Old Police Station in Cromarty.
Before moving to the area, Jon was a theatre director in Yorkshire and having been invited to produce a murder mystery play for the first crime weekend in 2013, he has looked to real local history for his latest drama.
Performed with life-size puppets and puppeteers drawn from the local community, live music will be provided by the composer, cellist Marjorie Paxton, and two other musicians.
“In total we have six puppeteers and a performer who plays a journalist character who is the kind of narrator creating a thread running through the story,” said Jon Palmer.
He explained that asking amateur performers to learn all the lines and commit to hours of rehearsal for a performance that would normally only be seen once, is something he has tried to work around in the past.
He has come up with the idea of using puppets and recording the dialogue, the performers just having to work their puppets for the two planned performances.
The play was originally scheduled to be seen at 2020’s crime weekend, which – like almost every other live performance in the country – had to be postponed because of Covid.
Jon had turned away from the usually lightweight subject of previous plays to take a look at local history.
"The woman was taken as a scapegoat to Cromarty Courthouse jail that night and the following day all the local people from Resolis marched on Cromarty and broke down the jailhouse door and got her out."
“I was keen to do something much more serious and hit upon the Resolis Riot as being a true crime from the area,” Jon explained.
“In 1843 it was the time of the disruption when the Free Church was breaking away from the Church of Scotland, so it was kind of an early version of people taking back control.
“They objected to having ministers imposed upon them by the landed gentry. The riot itself was preventing the minister being inducted in the church and a woman was arrested as a result of that fracas, where guns were shot –and the local people were throwing stones at Resolis Church. The woman was taken as a scapegoat to Cromarty Courthouse jail that night and the following day all the local people from Resolis marched on Cromarty and broke down the jailhouse door and got her out.”
The Irish Fusiliers were drafted in, Jon said, and for about four to six weeks they were trying to round up the perpetrators.
Jon said: “Though we will have to see how the play goes down, In terms of a future life, we are thinking of doing a little mini-tour of some of the village halls on the Black Isle. We might be able to do that in the autumn.”
The Riot Of Resolis will be performed at 2pm and 8pm in the Victoria Hall, Cromarty, on Friday, May 6 as part of the Cromarty Crime & Thrillers Weekend. Seating will be in the round, so numbers are limited, organisers say. For ticket info, you can email: info@cromartyartstrust.org.uk or phone 01381 600354.
