'Curtain's Call' is what I would call enrapturing bold visual experience with an unorthodox aesthetic. While I feel this style of art may not be to everyone's liking, it's really stands out when it mixes photos with hand painted imagery, and then mix with the wide shots of silhouettes and what would affectionately be called, blobs and shapes. The interesting choice for me was how the illustrations and music gave a tone that felt both very enchanting and tense. Striking visuals like the wolf eyes in the roses or the director in the shadow give this one an identity that really helps it stick out. The interwoven story of the actors performing the play and the play itself is a creative idea, but I feel like there's still an odd disconnect between the two 'worlds' that are being presented.
The play itself is a fascinating sort of myth tale, with baked in magic and lore, while the theater troupe is a fairly mundane college group. I would imagine that there is supposed to be some kind of connection between the actors and the characters they play, especially for the main fox guy. But it's established that aside from visual similarities, they don't actually have a lot in common. Since they're not so similar and the lack of focus on the actors, it comes out feeling under-developed. That's the risk of a demo version, I suppose. There might be some kind of connecting revelation at the climax of the story, but up to this point, there's a lack of cohesion between the two plot lines.
I can see the vision for the implementation of the theme "light in the dark", there's the literal spotlight on a stage, and what I interpret as the demon wolf coming to rescue the princess from an arranged marriage. Maybe a bit of Crni providing Bela with inspiration to live authentically, but it felt a bit inconsistent with Bela's backstory of his apathy towards the schooling system (except for theater) and there wasn't so much personal struggle except for the implied uncomfortableness with telling Crni's he's gay.
It's also a very intense read, everything feels dire or precarious due to the music. It might help to give the reader a break with some more chill and relaxed moments, especially during the smoke breaks or the scenes outside the theater stage. Aside from that, it's a very entrancing story, with very evocative illustrations. I look forward to seeing how this story looks in it's completed form and if the story lines converge in a thematic way