Front Row: Archive 2013

With Mark Lawson.Saoirse Ronan was only 13 when she was Oscar and BAFTA nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her role in Atonement. Since then, she has starred in The Lovely Bones, Byzantium and The Host. Now, at 19, she heads the cast of Kevin MacDonald's film How I Live Now, based on Meg Rosoff's book about children caught up in a third world war. She reflects on the transition from child to adult actor, dealing with death on set and the possibility of running for US President.Handbagged, a new play from Moira Buffini, explores the relationship between Margaret Thatcher and the Queen during political events of the 1980s. Stella Gonet and Fenella Woolgar play older and younger versions of the former Prime Minisiter while Marion Bailey and Claire Holman play the older and younger Queen. Novelist Justin Cartwright gives his verdict.The exhibition, Shunga: Sex and Humour in Japanese Art, at the British Museum, focuses on sexually explicit paintings, prints and illustrated books from Japan from 1600 - 1900,