Monday

Thrown Controllers Live from 6 p.m. to midnight at Once Lounge + Ballroom, 156 Highland Ave., Somerville. General admission is $17.  This traveling show features video game trivia questions and video game challenges (including against the hosts) as well as a musical performance by YouTubers Family Jules & Adriana Figueroa (pictured). Information is here.

Blacksmith House poetry reading from 8 to 9 p.m. at The Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 42 Brattle St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $3. Bob Hicok, whose latest poetry collection is “Hold,” reads with Matthew Lippman, author of “A Little Gut Magic.” Information is here.

Tuesday

Kwame Alexander and friends read from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at First Parish Cambridge Unitarian Universalist, 3 Church St./1446 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square. General admission is $8 (with fees, $9.39, and online only). The Newbery Medal-winning author brings his love letter to black life in the United States, “The Undefeated,” as well as three fellow creators for his new book imprint, Versify, to launch a cross-country book tour. With him will be children’s book authors Raúl the Third with “¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market,” Lamar Giles with “The Last Last-Day-of-Summer” and Kip Wilson with “White Rose,” presented by Harvard Book Store. Information is here.

“The Ghost Manuscript” launch with author Kris Frieswick from 7 to 9 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Porter Square. Free. Journalist, humorist and author Frieswick talks with best-selling author Jenna Blum about her new “The Ghost Manuscript” – a page-turner quest for King Arthur’s tomb that takes readers to Wales, Boston and to Frieswick’s home territory, Cape Cod. Information is here.

Wednesday

Aeronaut’s Monthly Open Mic from 8 to 11 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square, Somerville. Free. Musicians perform two songs in 10 minutes in an event hosted by Mike Morrissey. Information is here.

Thursday

“Ultimate Droodles Compendium” event from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at The Harvard Coop, 1400 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square. Free. Writer and repeat “Jeopardy” champ Ryan “Fritz” Holznagel reintroduces the 1950s fad of droodles (a doodle/riddle cartoon combo coined by Roger Price, later a television show) with comedians including Sam Ike, Lauren Kirby and Anthony Scibelli. The audience gets to play along in a fast, funny family event. (The droodle seen here: Early bird who caught a strong worm.) Information is here.

“Macbeth” from 7 to 10 p.m. (and repeating through the weekend) at the Marran Theater, 34 Mellen St., on Lesley University’s Doble Campus in the Agassiz neighborhood near Harvard Square. General admission is $10. You probably know the story by now – war, ambition, witches, regicide, betrayal, out damn spot, etc., but you’ve probably never seen Lesley’s Oxford Street Players do it. Information is here.

“Extremities” from 8 to 10 p.m. (and repeating five times through April 13) at First Church in Cambridge, 11 Garden St., Harvard Square. General admission is $22. The Also Known As Theatre company and director Alexandra Smith stage William Mastrosimone’s play and find it just as relevant as it was 40 years ago, centered around the capture of a home invader and attempted rapist by women forced to consider the lengths they must go to feel safe. Information is here.

Second annual MTA Playwrights Lab from 8 to 10 p.m. (and repeating Friday and Saturday) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s W97 Theater, 345 Vassar St., Area II. Free. A weekend-long festival of staged readings featuring the work of eight writers in a playwrights’ workshop taught by Ken Urban. Information is here.

Rock & Roll Rumble preliminary from 8 p.m. to midnight at Once Lounge + Ballroom, 156 Highland Ave., Somerville. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 day of show. This Bliss, FiDEL, PowerSlut and OfficeR compete. Information is here.

Friday

“CityStep Into the Future” student dance performance from 7 to 8 p.m. (and repeating Saturday) at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School’s Fitzgerald Auditorium, 459 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. It’s pay-as-you-can, but RSVPs are requested via Facebook. This Harvard CityStep organization performance brings together choreography created with fifth- through seventh-graders at the Amigos, King Open, Graham & Parks and city upper schools, university musicians, and dancers from the Harvard Crimson Dance Team and Harvard Breakers. Information is here.

“Macbeth” from 7 to 10 p.m. (and repeating through the weekend) at the Marran Theater, 34 Mellen St., on Lesley University’s Doble Campus in the Agassiz neighborhood near Harvard Square. General admission is $10. Information is here.

“Filibus: The Mysterious Sky Pirate” and “Confidence Confidant” live radio plays from 8 to 10 p.m. (and repeating five times through April 13) at Boston Brunch Church, 204 Elm St., near Davis Square, Somerville. General admission is $15 (with fees, $16.52). Original adaptations of adventure stories featuring daring women of disguise and intrigue – one from a 1915 silent film and the other based on Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton detective. Information is here.

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” from 8 to 11 p.m. (and repeating Saturday) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Building 26-100, also known as the Compton Laboratories, at 60 Vassar St. Free. If you didn’t catch it in theaters before it won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, now can you can even see it with free popcorn. Information is here.

Rock & Roll Rumble preliminary from 8 p.m. to midnight at Once Lounge + Ballroom, 156 Highland Ave., Somerville. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 day of show. The Daylilies, Brix’N Mortar, Corner Soul and The I Want You compete. Information is here.

“Extremities” from 8 to 10 p.m. (and repeating four times through April 13) at First Church in Cambridge, 11 Garden St., Harvard Square. General admission is $22. Information is here.

Second annual MTA Playwrights Lab from 8 to 10 p.m. (and repeating Friday and Saturday) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s W97 Theater, 345 Vassar St., Area II. Free. Information is here.

Saturday

“Summer Wars” anime matinee from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Harvard Film Archive at The Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $5, or free with a current Cambridge Public Library card, and are available starting at 2:15 p.m. outside the screening room. A young math whiz encounters simultaneous challenges taking on an artificial intelligence that could destroy Earth and pretending to be the fiancé of a friend at her grandmother’s birthday. Recommended for ages 12 and older. Information is here.

“Urban Muses” Greater Boston Artist Collective art exhibition and fundraiser from noon to 4 p.m. at Glass House, 450 Kendall St., Kendall Square. Tickets are $15 (with fees, $16.49). Artists showcase their work and musicians perform in sessions that will be filmed and turned into a YouTube series, with 25 percent of ticket sales going to Boston Children’s Hospital. Information is here.

Rock & Roll Rumble preliminary from 8 p.m. to midnight at Once Lounge + Ballroom, 156 Highland Ave., Somerville. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 day of show. Exit 18, Justine & the Unclean, blindspot and Art Thieves compete. Information is here.

CityStep into the Future student dance performance from 2 to 3 p.m.  at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School’s Fitzgerald Auditorium, 459 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. It’s pay-as-you-can, but RSVPs are requested via Facebook. Information is here.

“Filibus: The Mysterious Sky Pirate” and “Confidence Confidant” live radio plays from 2 to 4  and 8 to 10 p.m. (and repeating three times through April 13) at Boston Brunch Church, 204 Elm St., near Davis Square, Somerville. General admission is $15 (with fees, $16.52). Information is here.

North Cambridge Family Opera’s “Space Opera 2019” from 2 to 4:30 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 p.m. (and repeating Sunday) in the auditorium of the Peabody School, 70 Rindge Ave., North Cambridge. There is a suggested donation of $12 for adults and $6 for children. The intergenerational group revives its first ever family opera, by founder David Bass, for a light-hearted and slightly familiar science fiction odyssey sung in a variety of popular and classical styles (in English with side titles). Information is here.

“Macbeth” from 7 to 10 p.m. (and repeating through the weekend) at the Marran Theater, 34 Mellen St., on Lesley University’s Doble Campus in the Agassiz neighborhood near Harvard Square. General admission is $10. Information is here.

“Extremities” from 8 to 10 p.m. (and repeating four times through April 13) at First Church in Cambridge, 11 Garden St., Harvard Square. General admission is $22. Information is here.

Second annual MTA Playwrights Lab from 8 to 10 p.m. (and repeating Friday and Saturday) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s W97 Theater, 345 Vassar St., Area II. Free. Information is here.

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” from 8 to 11 p.m. (and repeating Saturday) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Building 26-100, also known as the Compton Laboratories, at 60 Vassar St. Free. Information is here.

Sunday

A Night for Jim comedy benefit show from 7 to 10 p.m. at The Comedy Studio, 1 Bow Market Way, Union Square, Somerville. Tickets are $20 (with fees, $21.60). A benefit for the Jimmy fund in honor of Boston comic Jim DeCroteau hosted by Dan Margarita, featuring Boston legends Tony Viveiros, Frank Santorelli, Mike McDonald, Laura Severse, Emily Ruskowski and many more. Information is here.

Pindrop Sessions’ “dance, dance, evolution” from 7 to 10 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square, Somerville. General admission is $20 (with fees, $22.85). A partnership with WGBH brings this “classical-ish performance series,” this time with the musician-led ensemble Palaver Strings and vocal trio Culomba performing works that range from Rossini’s “Tanti affeti” to DBR’s “Klap Ur Handz.” Information is here.

North Cambridge Family Opera’s “Space Opera 2019” from 1 to 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the auditorium of the Peabody School, 70 Rindge Ave., North Cambridge. Information is here.

“Macbeth” from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. (and repeating through the weekend) at the Marran Theater, 34 Mellen St., on Lesley University’s Doble Campus in the Agassiz neighborhood near Harvard Square. General admission is $10. Information is here.