Raleigh
The Hitch-Hiker
N.C. Museum of ArtIf you’ve ever watched an old black and white Warner Bros. crime drama on Turner Classic Movies and found yourself jolted awake by a short, slender, pretty-but-not-beautiful actress shredding the screen in an earthy, mesmerizing and modern style, you probably encountered Ida Lupino. Best known for stealing scenes in such early Bogart vehicles as High Sierra and They Drive By Night, Lupino was overshadowed by Bette Davis for much of her career at Warners. What makes her especially important in film history, however, is her second act: She became an independent director and producer in the 1950s and, while she was at it, unflinchingly tackled taboo subjects such as rape. The Hitch-Hiker, one of her best directing efforts, screens tonight at 8 p.m. N.C. State film professor Marsha Orgeron, who discusses Lupino’s work in her just-published Hollywood Ambitions: Celebrity in the Movie Age, introduces the film. Visit ncartmuseum.org. David Fellerath

Durham
@ liberty
Liberty WarehousePerformed in Durham’s landmark Liberty Warehouse, both hands theater company’s newest production @ liberty tells the story of the fast-talking tobacco auctioneer Lee Aubrey “Speed” Riggs. Born in Goldsboro in 1907, Speed worked at Liberty when the evolving art space was an actual tobacco warehouse. The young and talented auctioneer later became “The Voice of Lucky Strikes.” Written and arranged by both hands’ members, the play runs through May 10. Visit www.myspace.com/bothhandstheatre for more info. See story, “Liberty Warehouse opens its doors to local playwrights.”Megan Stein

Raleigh
Goner, The Loners, Patty Hurst Shifter
Tir Na NogThis real Raleigh variety pack starts with Goner’s keyboard-led indie rock, which carries an air of early-R.E.M. mystery but rocks harder than such a description implies. The Loners is a two-man garage rock band, with the two-man thing keeping things righteously primitive. And Patty Hurst Shifter has always found just the right blend of hooks and breathing room in its ’70s-radio-ready guitar anthems. Factor in the Irish bar locale, and if you can’t find anythingmusic-wise, beverage-wise, culture-wiseof interest, then you might very well be the goner here. The pulse-checking begins at 10:30 p.m. Rick Cornell