Columbia and Chicago Scriptworks, a nonprofit organization that produces screenplays in a live action setting, are collaborating to produce their third live action reading of a screenplay this semester with Lemon Tea: The Emancipation of Liberty by Marcia Sinclair, a former elementary school teacher and Chicago-based author.

The reading will take place in the Hokin Theater at the Wabash Campus Building, 623 S. Wabash Ave., on Feb. 18 and 22. The screenplay centers on a young black girl, Liberty, Libby for short, dealing with “colorism,” which is based on the belief that the lighter a person’s skin is the better a person he or she is, Sinclair said.

“All blacks tended to treat light-skinned blacks better than dark-skinned blacks,” Sinclair said. “This is something she has to deal with every day of her life. It takes a newcomer who comes to her town to make her see that beauty comes in a myriad of shades.”

The reading is taking place during Black History Month, which was no coincidence, said Vera Brooks, managing director of Chicago Scriptworks.

“Once we decided what we wanted for our scripts, we did feel that it would be wonderful to highlight it during Black History Month,” Brooks said.

Brooks and Sinclair both said even though the script deals predominately with the lifestyles and hardships of growing up African-American, it’s a script that will resonate with everyone.

“Lemon Tea is about friendship, which just happens to be between two little black girls,” Sinclair said. “Lemon Tea is a movie for everybody.”

She said, however, there is a bit of significance added since it is part of Black History Month.

“I remember as a teacher we planned field trips because of the month. And we were also talking about it and studying it in school,” Sinclair said. “It might reach more people this month, perhaps, than any other month.”

Chicago Scriptworks has been around since 2004 and produces four screenplays each year submitted from authors nationwide, said Vaun Monroe, faculty member and artistic director of Chicago Scriptworks.

“We stage a reading, and production companies, among others, are invited to come and watch,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of them picked up.”

Lemon Tea

isn’t the only screenplay to be reproduced live at Columbia, Monroe said. Saratoga and Cat Bungler were the first two hosted during the fall semester, he said.

The screenplay for Lemon Tea was finished in 1995 and Sinclair said she’s seen it read twice before and hopes this is the time it gets picked up to be made into a film.

“This hasn’t been an easy process,” Sinclair said. “But you just don’t give up. My time is not his time. I kept writing.”

Sinclair said although she has written many other works, Lemon Tea is the “closest to her heart.” It has the message she wants everyone, especially young girls, to walk away with.

“I would want all young girls, but especially young black girls, to know there are no limitations to what they can accomplish,” she said. “I really would want that to get across to them. Because I know there are a lot of Libbys out there still

in 2009.”

The show is free to Columbia students, faculty and staff. General public admission is $5. Showtimes are at 7 p.m. on Feb. 18 and 2 p.m. on Feb. 22.