Opioids crisis is backdrop to new play about Betty Ford

It’s no exaggeration to say Betty Ford changed the national conversation about addiction.

The former U.S. first lady, who died in 2011, established drug and alcohol treatment centres credited with helping generations of celebrities and ordinary Americans alike overcome addiction. She also was a leading advocate for breast cancer awareness.

Her pioneering work both inside and outside the White House has inspired Boston playwright Lisa Rafferty to create a new documentary play. “SHE DID ALL THAT - Betty Ford: Speaking Out, Saving Lives,” premieres June 28 at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.

The Associated Press caught up with Rafferty, a breast cancer survivor whose own goddaughter is battling opioid addiction, about the play and Ford’s fresh relevance today:

A P: Your last big production, “Finish Line,” about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, was also a documentary written for the stage. What captivates you most about that format?

Rafferty: I’ve completely fallen in love with the documentary theatre genre. I really believe in its power to tell stories through the words of the people who lived those stories. I knew the best way to tell Betty Ford’s story would be verbatim - in the words of Betty herself as well as in the words of people who wrote to her.

A P: How did this play come about? Rafferty: We were visiting my son at the University of Michigan and came across the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor. The library told me Betty got 50,000 letters of support when she opened up about battling breast cancer. I’m a survivor myself. When I saw some of those letters, the documentary play wrote itself.

AP: How does Mrs. Ford’s work on drug addiction speak to Americans in today’s opioid crisis?

Rafferty: Her story is still so relevant today. She herself was addicted to alcohol and prescription drugs. She pinched a nerve in her neck while leaning over to open a window - she ended up in traction at the hospital but couldn’t get rid of the pain. They sent her home with a whole bunch of pills. She went on to change the world’s discourse on treatment and recovery, stressing the importance of speaking out about it.