Not merely "history" plays, documentary dramas rely on actual rather than imaginary events and incorporate other media such as photographs, film clips, and songs. The plays in Voicings use all these tools and address issues that even today remain raw and emotional. Included are works previously not available in English (Piscator's In Spite of Everything!) and never in print (Compensation, a Soviet documentary on the Chernobyl disaster).

Landmark drama such as Peter Weiss's The Investigation is also part of this collection. Included as well are the more recent Execution of Justice by Emily Mann and Mame Hunt's Unquestioned Integrity, a drama on the controversial testimony of Anita Hill at the hearings confirming Clarence Thomas's nomination to the Supreme Court.