Fracking takes the stage in "Lois's Wedding," at 7 p.m. Mondayin the Fowler Blast Furnace Room at the ArtsQuest Center, SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.

The one-act play, written by Bathsheba Monk and directed by Lynnie Godfrey, is set in Morgan, a fictional northeast Pennsylvania town.It's the second collaboration between author-editor-playwright Monk of Allentown and singer-actress-producer-director Godfrey of North Whitehall. Monk's Blue Heron Book Works LLC published Godfrey's "Sharing Lessons Learned While Seeking the Spotlight."Monk, author of "Now You See It … Stories from Cokesville, Pa."; "Nude Walker: A Novel"; and the Swanson Herbinko mystery series, is editor-publisher of Blue Heron Book Works LLC.Seven actors participate in the staged reading of "Lois's Wedding," with a narrator and accompanied by Moe Jerant on drums."There's quite a bit of poetry in it," explains Monk. "The story is very much in the poems. Most of it is written in verse. Some of it is rhymed."Monk, who began writing the play two years ago, says, "It's not a comedy, although there is humor in it."The staged reading is part of a series Godfrey, a member of the ArtsQuest Performing Arts Board, has directed at ArtsQuest, including "Greenwood: An American Dream … Destroyed" and "Unentitled."The genesis of "Lois's Wedding" began on vacation."I like to go to Wellsboro, Tioga County," says Monk. "Maybe four years ago, they started fracking. People started selling their mineral rights."In fracking, aka hydraulic fracturing, natural gas companies force high-pressure liquids into rock to release and extract oil and gas and, via horizontal drilling, have reached untapped reserves."Being a good liberal person, I said they shouldn't do that. It's bad for the land."And then my husband and I went to an antiques shop in Mansfield (Tioga County). One of the vendors said she sold her mineral rights. It's a very poor area. I became much more sympathetic to the people who sold their mineral rights."The Marcellus Shale region extends roughly from upstate New York through Pennsylvania and into Virginia. It is named after an outcropping near Marcellus, New York. The shale-oil boom is credited in part with driving down fuel oil, gasoline and natural gas prices in the United States and around the world."Somehow, it started taking the shape of a play. Are you responsible for the common good? Or do you look after your family first?"In "Lois's Wedding," Lois, the most sought-after woman in Morgan, is marrying Mark, the lawyer in town who brokered deals with the fracking company.Lois' father, Bruno,is in a wheelchair. Her brother Georgey is a two-bit criminal. Lois' mother left the town years ago after selling the mineral rights."It's all about the tensions in the town," Monk says.Monk and Godfrey hope to present the play in other cities. "I hope this play will resonate with places in Pennsylvania."I didn't write this as a propaganda piece. I wrote it to start a conversation," says Monk.A talk-back with Monk and Godfrey follows the approximately one-hour staged reading.Tickets: steelstacks.org, 610-297-7100