(There is great authority in the series’ discussions of produce.) It’s frequently very funny, full of bright comic turns, and often quite moving, even beautiful, sometimes just for the space of a shot, in a way that might make you reconsider a character. The series is also a love letter to Schumer’s husband, Chris Fischer, a chef and sometime organic farmer (and her co-star on Food Network’s “Amy Schumer Learns to Cook”), here molded into the person of Cera’s John. (Whether her mother made a habit of short-term relationships with married men, I don’t know, but it’s Jane’s defining feature.) Like Beth, Schumer, who grew up on Long Island, experienced a turn in family fortunes when their high-end baby furniture business went under her father - Michael Rapaport plays Beth’s - was an alcoholic her parents divorced. But it is also clearly sincere and personal, salted (like Schumer’s script for “ Trainwreck”) with autobiographical details. Its parts don’t all tonally mesh - it is an amalgam of romantic comedy, straight drama, bits and sketches and adapted stand-up, with the odd line that seems to come more from Schumer than her character - and at times it feels constructed to deliver a point, a project as much as a story. “Life & Beth” has the curious quality of being at once a little awkward and exactly what it wants to be. In the present tense, Beth visits a local winery to drum up business (Jon Glaser plays its uncooperative, irritated, irritating owner) and, at the connected organic farm, meets John (Michael Cera), the farmer. Extended flashbacks portray Beth’s middle-school years, an anthology of challenges and humiliations at home, school and in basement rec rooms - though not without moments of hope, elation and best friendship. With her relationship with longtime boyfriend and co-worker Matt (Kevin Kane) coughing and sputtering and a 40th birthday looming, she abandons Manhattan for the Long Island hamlet where she grew up, there to face old wounds and court new possibilities. (The show is quite acute on the numbness that can accompany the loss of a parent.) When her mother dies suddenly, her lack of tears is seen by those around her as symptomatic of a disordered personality. There is a weight on Beth the very air seems to slow her down. Though she is good at her job, and up for a promotion, her claim of leading a great life - “I am probably the most happy, satisfied person in this entire mall,” she tells her lovingly critical mother, Jane (Laura Benanti), on an uncomfortable shopping trip - is clearly a case of the lady protesting too much. So far, Play-PerView has raised over $100,000 in support of arts organizations impacted by the ongoing pandemic and other relief programs.In the Hulu series “Life & Beth,” created and partly written and directed by Amy Schumer, Schumer plays Beth, a sales representative for a midlevel wine distributor in New York City that even her boss (Murray Hill) describes as mediocre. Proceeds from the performance will go to New Georges. Carrie defines the rules, Amelia envisions a husband who darns her bloomers, Frederick renounces his manhood, Margaret rides the train, Eileen drinks sherry, and Mabel lets someone else bandage her wounds. Seneca Falls is an anachronistic triptych through late-nights in the first 72 years of the women’s suffrage movement. Cyr ( Thunderbodies), Erin Wilhelmi ( To Kill A Mockingbird), and John Zdrojeski ( Heroes of The Fourth Turning). Jess Chayes directs a cast that includes Susannah Flood ( Make Believe), April Matthis ( Toni Stone), Kelly McAndrew ( Men on Boats), Monique St. The play is a collection of stories following several characters as they fight for women’s suffrage. Play-PerView continues its digital offerings with Jean Ann Douglas’ Seneca Falls September 12 at 7 PM ET.
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