CHICAGO: Adventure Stage Chicago (ASC) has announced its 2017-18 season, its 14th season of programming for young audiences. The lineup, which will focus on literacy, will include two shows as well as an original piece by ASC’s Trailblazers youth mentorship program.

“We’ll continue to create new plays that give voice to the most marginalized in our community,” producing artistic director Tom Arvetis said in a statement. “The rich human values we share as a community will always make us stronger than the superficial differences that so easily drop us into divisive categories.”

The season will open with Akeelah and the Bee (Oct. 25-Nov. 25), adapted by Cheryl West from Doug Atchinson’s screenplay. The story follows Akeelah as she pursues her dream of winning the national spelling bee. Daryl Brooks will direct.

Next up will be ASC commission The Celba Network (March 31-May 5, 2018), by Lucas Baisch. Based on the Guatemalan myths of The Popol Vuh, the play questions the meaning of digital literacy in a divided world.

Trailblazers, an ensemble of young artists and their professional mentors, will present their fifth mainstage premiere in spring 2018. Through collaboration, these young artists devise original work inspired by current issues. Previous productions have explored bullying, technology, terminal illness, mental health and healing, media, and gun violence.

Adventure Stage Chicago (ASC), founded in 2010, is a program of the Northwestern Settlement whose mission is to engage and inspire the community.