Exegesis

-prima donna actress, "of a certain age"... (pg.4)

• (humorous) used to avoid saying that a person, usually a woman, is no longer young but is not yet old
• used to avoid saying middle aged or old
• Young as we both were, we still admired "the woman of a certain age," that is to say, the woman between thirty-five and forty.

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/of+a+certain+age

-"I'm going to play Irina in The Three Sisters." (pg.5 by Nina)

• Written by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov in 1901. The Three Sisters was the first play that Chekhov wrote specifically for the Moscow Art Theatre, having experienced commercial success in his previous collaborations with the company, The Seagull and Uncle Vanya. Like many of Chekhov's works, it is about the decay of the privileged class in Russia and the search for meaning in the modern world. In the play, Olga, Masha, and Irina are refined and cultured young women in their twenties who were raised in urban Moscow but have been living in a small, colorless provincial town for eleven years. With their father dead, their anticipated return to Moscow comes to represent their hopes for living a good life, while the ordinariness of day-to-day living tightens its hold. First performed in 1901, The Three Sisters is a perennial favorite of actors and audiences. Chekhov referred to this play as a "drama," preferring to avoid the more confining labels of either "comedy" or "tragedy," although later critics have argued for both of those labels. It is one of the four major plays that he wrote at the end of his life.

http://www.enotes.com/three-sisters

-"There's a picture of him with Olivier in London..."(pg.5 byNina)

• Laurence Kerr Olivier/Baron Olivier. (22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) He was an English actor, director, and producer. Olivier played a wide variety of roles on stage and screen from Greek tragedy, Shakespeare and Restoration comedy to modern American and British drama. He was the first artistic director of the National Theatre of Great Britain and its main stage is named in his honour. He is one of the most famous and revered and is generally regarded to be the greatest actor of the 20th century, in the same category as David Garrick, Richard Burbage, Edmund Kean and Henry Irving in their own centuries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Olivier

-"... And so, my comrades, some will say..."(pg. 6 by Sergey)

• After the Russian Revolution, translations of the term in different languages were adopted by Communists worldwide. As a result, even though many other socialists would continue to use "Comrade" among themselves (e.g. German and Austrian social-democrats and, for a long time, members of the British Labour Party), it became most strongly associated in public consciousness with "Soviet-style" Communism of the Marxist-Leninist, Stalinist and Trotskyist varieties. This is exemplified in its mocking use in stereotypical portrayals of the Soviet Union in Cold War films and books.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrade

-"In the sunlight of glasnost..."(pg.6 by Sergey)

• It was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of 1980s. While "glasnost" is associated with freedom of speech, the main goal of this policy was to make the country's management transparent and open to debate, thus circumventing the narrow circle of the government officials of the Communist Party who previously exercised complete control of the economy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasnost

-"... will help the Soviet people along their hard road to Communism!"(pg.7 by Sergey)

• A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people. www.taigacats.info/definitions.htm
• A theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state. homepages.vvm.com/~stevei/politics/Glossary.htm
• The ideology of political parties that use the term Communist in their names, usually Marxist and Leninist; The socio-economic system based on such parties' ideologies; A state of affairs perceived as oppressive, overly arbitrary, or totalitarian. en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Communism

- "Dear Boris, the company Procurer..."(pg. 7 by Sergey)

I found it very interesting and pretty ironic that most definitions of the term "procurer" were defining it only as handling prostitution and not inanimate goods, and the very few that weren't about prostitution were always accompanied by one or several that were.

• Someone who obtains or acquires; "the procurer of opera tickets" http://www.thefreedictionary.com/procurer
• Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. Pimps are known under the law as procurers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procurer
• One who procures, or obtains; one who, or that which, brings on, or causes to be done, esp. by corrupt means. http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/Procurer

- "... and they can't even do that at the Kirov!"(pg.7 by Marya)

• Home of the Russian Opera and Ballet, the theatre is famous for the notable singers, composers and dancers that have graced its stage. It was originally The Mariinsky Theatre until after the Russian Revolution of1917. In the flurry of name changing when the Bolsheviks took power the theatre was renamed the Academic Theatre (as the tsarist name was no longer acceptable). The theatre was not renamed again until 1935, when it became the Kirov Theatre. Although it faced many challenges during these times, the theatre and its traditions always managed to persevere. In the 1920's came the great dance teacher Agrippina Vaganova, for whom the dance school is now named. New stars rose out of the Soviet ballet, but then the Theatre was badly damaged during the siege of Leningrad in WWII, and most of the ballet work, dancers, sets, and costumes were evacuated. After the war things quickly returned to normal and the company and theatre regained their significant place in the culture of St. Petersburg. The Mariinsky Theatre has been labeled a 'mausoleum' because of its resistance to change. Its supporters would call it a shrine to classical ballet, but for frustrated dancers and choreographers it has often been seen as a prison. With the fall of the Soviet Union came change to the Mariinsky Theatre, and along with its old name it regained a sense of purpose and mission. http://it.stlawu.edu/~rkreuzer/pete14/pete14.htm#The%20Theatre%20Post-Revolution%20to%20Today

- She is a Juno-esque actress, every inch the grande dame.(pg.9-stage directions)

• Having the stately bearing and imposing beauty of the goddess Juno. OR Statuesque http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Junoesque
• suggestive of a statue http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/junoesque.htm

- "It's called "Moscow Nights, Incorporated.""(pg.14 by Marya)

I'm not completely sure that the company in the play is the same as what I found, but the fact that the Moscow Nights, Incorporated I found online is over 100 years old and had heavy traffic of many people of the Soviet Union during/after the 1991 collapse leads me to believe that the Marya character was either mistaken of it's purpose, or was up to something when she needed the money for this "pantyhose company".

• Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was an increase in the number of immigrants to New Orleans from Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Georgia, and other countries of the former Soviet Union. http://www.moscownightsus.com/about.html
• Moscow Nights, Inc is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the appreciation of Russian culture through theatrical and music presentations, festivals, and educational programs. Based in the Greater New Orleans area, Moscow Nights, Inc brings the riches of Russian folk and classical culture and the spirit of internationalism to Louisiana audiences, adding another colorful layer tothe vibrant mix of local cultural celebrations. http://www.moscownightsus.com/