Originally developed and staged as part of La Lengua Theater’s 2024 Historias de Descolonización (Decolonization Stories) playwright residency and new plays festival, ‘El silencio árido del agua’ [The Arid Silence of Water] marks the California debut of Puerto Rican playwright Viviana Calderón. ‘El silencio’ launches La Lengua’s 2026 season and paves the way for the 3rd edition of the Historias de Descolonización festival, this year focused on climate change, which will be presented on October 24–25, 2026, at Brava Theater. The Historias de Descolonización residency and festival serve as a platform to promote work about the ongoing legacy of colonization in the Americas. The project works to combat misinformation by centering narratives that shed light on the real impact and consequences of colonization that persist today.