CHICAGO: The Adventure Stage Chicago has announced its 2018-19 season, which will be the company’s 15th. It will present productions that tackle literal and metaphorical challenges in the theme “hunger.”

The season is dedicated to Belna Reyes, the director of the Food Pantry and Support Services at the Northwestern Settlement House, who died this past year.

“The challenges of poverty are often layered and always complex,” said producing artistic director Tom Arvetis in a statement. “By isolating the markers of poverty (such as access to a quality education or access to nutritious food) and exploring them through a thematic lens, we become the civic space where these issues can be explored respectfully and with hope across generations.”

The season will open with The Adventures of Robin Hood (Oct. 20-Nov. 24) by Oliver Emanuel, an action-packed adaptation of the medieval tale of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. It will feature two actors, who will portray all the iconic characters. Adrian Danzig will direct.

Next will be The Stranger and the Shadow (Jan. 26-Feb. 16, 2019), about an outsider who bands together with other misfits to forge a creature that can fight against the monster that feeds on their fear. It will be co-presented with Rough House Theater as part of the Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival.

The season will conclude with Fast Food Chain (April 27-May 18, 2019) by Andrew Marikis, a play with elements of magical realism about a brother and sister in Chicago who struggle with poverty and food insecurity until they find a garden in an unlikely place. Daryl Brooks will direct.

Founded in 2004, Adventure Stage Chicago creates theatre for pre-teenage and teenage audiences, and is the participatory arts program of Chicago’s Northwestern Settlement House, a community-building program for families and children in need.