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COPENHAGEN (AFP) -

Copenhagen (AFP) – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, known for her artistic talents, has adapted one of Karen Blixen's stories for the marionette theater and has designed the characters for the performance, it was announced on Wednesday (7 April 2004) by the management of the theater in Aarhus (central). The first performance of this play for marionettes at the Svalegangens Dukketeater is planned for this summer at the festival of Aarhus. The play is taken from a story, "The Sailor-boy's Tale," by Karen Blixen (1885-1962), the greatest Danish writer of the Twentieth Century.

"It was really a challenge to attempt the design for a marionette play. I almost gave up because it was much harder than I expected," said the queen, who spoke to the press Wednesday in Aarhus, where she had come to celebrate the opening of a new art museum.

The queen explained that in the end she was transported with admiration for "the narrative voice of Karen Blixen, who is one of those extraordinary authors who can make you visualize the story as you read."

The 63-year-old queen has devoted herself to the arts since the 1980s, progressing from painting to drawing to costume design to set decoration for the Royal Theater and for television, and to book translation and illustration.

Trans. Linda Donelson