Simple Gifts takes place in the fictitious town of Hancock, Indiana. Octogenarian ex-Metropolitan Opera diva and retired singing teacher, Elena Maxwell, is at the end of her life. Her much younger partner, Jean Lee, executive director of the Archives of Traditional Music at Hancock University, may beat her to the finish line. A young singer, Kirsten Mintow, needs guidance at the beginning of her musical career. The history of a nearby Shaker village breaks through the fabric of 1994. Simple Shaker song melds with sumptuous classical music, including the Shaker-infused music of Aaron Copland, as the play explores the theme of extinction and asks “What makes life worth living?”