Ian-Yan

The spoken-word poets in the back of The Hungarian Pastry Shop are organizing a Marxist revolution. On the other hand, the elite members of the Saint Anthony Hall fraternity are reminiscing about their golden days that were once filled with champagne and cocaine. Meanwhile, AJ, an ambitious economics major, is stuck in the middle of their hilariously pretentious feud.

While some contemporary Chinese artists such as Ai Weiwei and Yue Minjun have made waves in the United States with unsettling and provocative works, their more traditional-leaning counterparts have received considerably less exposure. With "West Lake," an exhibition of new and recent work by the painter and printmaker Yan Shanchun, Chambers Fine Art in Chelsea seeks to show how subtlety can be more affecting than shock.

Last year, Princeton stunned the sporting world as it almost took out national powerhouse Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Then-sophomore forward Ian Hummer led the Tigers by hauling in eight rebounds and scoring 11 points to help keep Princeton's March Madness hopes alive until the final seconds. "We were only a few seconds away from knocking off Kentucky. With the loss of three key seniors, we knew we would have a lot of work to do this season," Hummer said. In the first part of the season it looked like Princeton (13-10, 4-3 Ivy) wouldn't be able to replicate its 2010-2011 magic, but Princeton turned heads again last Saturday by taking out another national powerhouse, No. 25 Harvard, 70-62. "We didn't go in thinking we had to beat a top 25 team—instead we came in thinking we had to beat Harvard, one of our biggest rivals," Hummer said. "Even though we have dropped a few games, we know there is still a chance to make a run in the league. It is going to be hard, but I think we are playing the kind of basketball that can make that possible." Not only did Princeton play one of its best games of the season against Harvard, but Hummer also surpassed his performance against Kentucky and established himself as one of the top big men in the league. After being limited to just four points against Dartmouth the day before, the 6-foot-7 forward bounced back quickly by scoring 20 points and snagging nine rebounds against the Crimson. "While leading the game in scoring was just icing on the cake, the fact that we were able to beat Harvard was by far the biggest accomplishment of the night," Hummer said. Even though Hummer does not stand as the tallest member of the Princeton squad, he may be one of the most physical players that the Lions will face as he leads the Tigers in both scoring (16.7 points per game) and rebounding (7.7 rebounds per game). "He's a physical beast. If you are not ready to fight, he will take your heart," Columbia men's basketball head coach Kyle Smith said. However, Hummer has developed a new move to complement his already impressive inside game. In his first two years playing for the Tigers, Hummer attempted no three-point shots. This year, Hummer has gone 15-48 from beyond the arc, putting up a respectable 31.3 field goal percentage for the season. While his newfound sharpshooting has not and will not replace his inside game, it offers an extra layer of stress for the Lions in Friday's game. "Any time you can add something to your array of moves and skills is always a plus. Adding a three-pointer this season has opened up a lot of other things," Hummer said. "It has opened up driving lanes as well as passing lanes. This has made it easier for me to score and get my teammates involved." The Tigers will hope that Hummer's game opens up more so that he can improve on his 11-point performance in their first matchup against the Lions this season. "I think the biggest thing that I need to improve is the amount of personal fouls. In our first game against [Columbia] this season, fouls limited my play and I had a hard time getting into the flow of the game," Hummer said. Hummer has shown that he can play against national-caliber talent, and as the Lions look to win their rematch against the Tigers, Hummer will present a unique challenge for the Light Blue. "You can try to wipe out the rest of the team, but then he'll get 40 points," Smith said.

Covering her naked body with a loose dressing gown and letting her long, tight braid serpentine down her back, Mary-Louise Parker's Hedda Gabler is at once a petulant child, a hedonistic bride, and a maleficent force. Calling to mind the villainess in Sleeping Beauty, Parker's spot-on, sarcastic delivery breathes fire into an otherwise tepid Ibsen production. The problem with Roundabout's newest staging of the Norwegian classic about new bride mourning her former life isn't necessarily the fault of Christopher Shinn's adaptation, nor is Ian Rickson's direction entirely to blame. Rather, the discrepancy exists when looking at Hedda as a sum of its parts. Despite her period clothes, Parker's Hedda might very well be friends with the merry wives of Agrestic (the suburban California town from her hit Showtime series, Weeds). But Jørgen Tessman (Michael Cerveris) and company date back to a time well before the inauguration of a black man into office. Hildegard Bechtler's grandiose sets are in keeping with circa 1890s décor, but instead of using traditional black-outs, P.J. Harvey marks time as we watch Cerveris move furniture during a scene change. This jumble in the space-time continuum results in a drawn-out production that isn't able to find its voice. Indeed, things do begin to warm up after intermission, but Hedda's pulse once again slows well before the final gunshot is fired. Perhaps to be expected, the most interesting scenes exist between Hedda and Ejlert Løvborg (Paul Sparks). From Parker melting like a ragdoll during their second act embrace, to her later pressing a pistol against Sparks' temple—it's a pleasure to watch these two physically engage in their mind games. Unfortunately, Cerveris tries too hard to appear naïve in his loveless marriage, but then miraculously grows a backbone during the final scene. Ana Reeder's portrayal of Mrs. Thea Elvsted is dry, and yet at times unbelievably maudlin. Assuming her signature pose, Parker clasps her hands behind her back as if she's always got her fingers crossed, not wanting anyone to know when they've been deceived (or perhaps manipulated is the better word). Hedda looks upon love as something of a "sticky" platelet-activating wound, and she is so attuned to her id that tea time with Freud may have proved more boring than enlightening. Emitting a hiss of rage after her plans for destruction have been foiled by Mrs. Elvsted, Parker's Hedda is fully realized and most delicious. But the fact that the audience laughed so often at Parker's delivery is proof that the production lacked direction. Praised by critics for his work with The Seagull, Rickson aims for a naturalistic Hedda but is at odds with choosing between a classic or contemporary approach. The result is that Hedda fails to commit to either camp, although she leans heavily towards the former. Perhaps Rickson sought to accentuate Hedda's neuroses with the divide in execution, but its implementation is off-putting. Parker plays peculiar, while everyone else plays it safe. Hedda Gabler plays in a limited engagement through March 29 at Roundabout's American Airlines Theater. The American Airlines Theater is located on 227 W. 42nd St. (btwn. Broadway and 8th Ave).