I got asked this recently in my theatre class. He wanted us to define culture in terms of everyone, us as an individual, and how theatre is related to it.

"When asked this, I was not even sure where to start, or what that meant to me. Webster's Dictionary defines it six ways. One says "the integrated pattern of human knowledge to succeeding generations." I think this tells us why it is important to life. To me, culture is how we learn, what we learn, how we use what we learn, how we evolve, and how we live. I think it is when we teach our children what we know and they stem off of that and change it for the future and grow in knowledge. This is where theatre is important, I believe. Theatre tends to hold up a mirror to society, so it is able to show us where we used to be, where we are now, and where we could be in the future. Maybe that is why we tend to associate theatre so closely with culture, and even make them synonymous. If we did not have theatre, or do not pay attention to it, we will find it impossible to understand the human condition and understand one another."

Culture is our stories. Here's to hoping it's full of quality ones this new year.