Published: June 11, 2009 12:00 am        

Students help promote twisted tale, 'Little Eva'

By MICHELLE MILLER
Staff Writer

MILFORD — Thanks to a creative partnership grant, Milford Central School students have been able to help promote ``Little Eva,’’ a play based on a notorious murderess of 1934.

MCS alumnus Isaac Rathbone, now a playwright in New York City, grew up hearing about the legend of Eva Coo and her desperate struggle to survive during the failing economy of the Great Depression. The crime influenced him to write a play, which will premier Friday, June 12 at 7 p.m. at the Upper Susquehanna Cultural Center in Milford. The performance is being produced by Oracle Theatre, Inc. in conjunction with The Greater Milford Historical Association.

Other performances of ``Little Eva,’’ will take place at the Upper Susquehanna Culture Center on June 13, 19 and 20 at 8 p.m. and on June 14 and 21 at 2 p.m.

The closing weekend will be presented in the actual courthouse where Coo’s trial took place — at the Otsego County Courthouse. Performances will be held there on June 26 and 27 at 8 p.m. and on June 28 at 2 p.m. For advanced tickets, contact ``Brown Paper Tickets’’ at 1-800-838-3006 or visit www.brownpapertickets. com.

The play has provided an opportunity for students to combine graphic arts, design, research, history, advertising, and marketing in the creation of an iconic image. Students have been acting as creative directors for the campaign to promote the theatre premier based on the true story.

The MCS advertising class, under the direction of high school art teacher Jeanne Knowles, has taken on the task of promoting the production. The class of five students has had the wonderful opportunity to work with a professional, said Knowles. Artist in residence Mark Drnek, owner of the multimedia company Sweet Home Productions in Oneonta, has been coming to the class regularly to teach the students about marketing a product. The students have been designing logos and graphics for posters, fliers and tickets.

They will soon be creating public service announcements, a playbill and experimenting with other promotional avenues.

``It’s an incredible learning experience for these kids,’’ said Knowles. ``They are learning to work together as a unit, learning teamwork, and making connections.’’ Knowles said the experience will benefit the students in the future because they will have samples of their work that they can put in a portfolio. They are also learning how to meet deadlines and work with a client, said Knowles.

``They are getting a reallife experience,’’ she added. ``It’s just so amazing.’’

The 1960s history class at MCS has also been involved in what has become a collaborative effort of getting the word out about the production of ``Little Eva.’’

Junior Eden Ward, who is in the history class and advertising class, said about 20 students in the history class helped research the evil deeds of Coo. Ward said students in the class read Niles Eggleston’s novel `Eva Coo, Murderess,’’ and did much of their research at the New York State Historical Association and the Fennimore Museum.

The research was used to make a documentary, which was filmed by the video production class. The documentary, entitled ``Eva Coo, Murderess of Milford,’’ was edited by MCS student Robert Meadows and won first place honors at the regional History Day competition.

The timing could not be better because this month marks the 75th anniversary of the apparent `hit-andrun’ by the `mallet murderess’ of Milford. Coo was entrusted with the care of one of her employees, a slowwitted handyman named Henry Wright, after the death of Wright’s mother.

She embezzled Wright’s inheritance and burned down his house for insurance money.

The ambitious woman then devised a scheme to get Wright to take out a number of life insurance policies naming her as his beneficiary — and then killed him. Helping her carry out the vile act was Martha Clift, a young mother from Oneonta.

On June 14, 1934, the two women drove Wright to an isolated location where Coo allegedly hit him with a mallet and Clift drove the car over his unconscious body. The two ladies then dumped Wright’s body beside a busy highway to make it look like a hit-and run accident. The police were not convinced, and after several hours of questioning, Clift spilled the beans and confessed.

Clift was convicted of second-degree murder and served jail time while Coo was executed in the electric chair at New York’s Sing Sing Prison on June 27, 1935.