Skip to content

The House of Special Purpose

Presented by The Twilight Company 

The House of Special Purpose is a dreamy, fragmented musical about the Romanov family’s reign and brutal execution during the Russian Revolution. The Imperial family was imprisoned in a merchant’s home in Yekaterinburg, ominously nicknamed “The House of Special Purpose.” On July 17, 1918, they were led into the cellar and killed.

Now, their spirits remain.

Trapped in the room where they died, the Romanovs are suspended in a dreamlike purgatory – spinning “around and around and around” as they relive the moments that define their lives and continue to reverberate through history. Memory fractures, time dissolves, and the past refuses to let them go.

Credits

Music & Lyrics by: Ruaridh MacDonald
Additional Music & Lyrics by: Belinda Corpuz
Book by: Sarah Bergbusch & Ruaridh MacDonald
Orchestrations by: Alex Pannetton
 
CAST:
Nikolai: Iain Stewart
Alexandra: Raquel Duffy
Olga: Anika Venkatesh
Tatiana: Alicia Barban
Maria: Christina Smith
Anastasia: Lucy Janisse
Alexi: Easton Lang
 
Dr. Botkin (Piano): Jake Schindler
Anna (Violin): Alexa MacDougall
Alexi Trupp (Upright Bass): Malcolm Connor
Ivan (Percussion): Lucas Redwood
 
Director: Dean Deffett
Choreographer: Sierra Holder
Music Director: Jake Schindler
Associate Music Director: Erin Yip
Stage Manager: Taylor Cumming
Costume Designer: Katie Hochman
Lighting Designer: Gareth Edwards
Sound Designer: Alex Purcell
Set Designer: Ruaridh MacDonald
Head Of Props: Max McKerlie
Executive Producer: Jocelyne Lang
Associate Producer: Will Parry
Administrative Producer: Landon Walliser
 
Local Business Sponsor:  Fieldview Financial Services | Sunlife
Produced with support from Pucker’s Co & Curtain Razors Theatre
June 3
to June 6, 2026

Tickets are $35

Venue

Franco Boni Theatre

Performance Dates

Wednesday June 3rd at 8pm (Preview)
Thursday June 4th at 8pm
Friday June 5th at 8pm
Saturday June 6th at 8pm

This performance is 85 minutes

collage of liza with various theatre centre community members and artists
May 14, 2026
“hello friends. there is some big news in this message and i have big feelings about it so i’m going to leave it to my friend Aislinn to share the details. i will have more to say later, but the things i want you to hold while you read are as follows: i have nothing...
collage of musicians: Dennis Passley, John Kameel Farah, and Stewart Legere
May 11, 2026
Tiny Concert Series for Torontonians is a new initiative at The Theatre Centre, presenting free and low-cost music events over the next several months!  This performance is part of events that we’re calling our Tiny Concert Series for Torontonians, increasing the community’s access to shared arts and culture experiences. The music programming will span a range...
liza paul and gregory posing for a photo in The Theatre Centre Cafe in front of big large windows. They are both wearing green which compliments the green foliage of the indoor and outdoor plants.
April 16, 2026
“Some of my all-time favourite moments have been when something hilariously awkward happens in public and I catch the eyes of a stranger and for a second we know exactly what each other is thinking. And then we go about our lives. It’s a beautiful intimacy.” For actor, director, and writer Gregory Prest, even a...