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Front Row: Saoirse Ronan; Thatcher meets the Queen; Erotic art from Japan

Saoirse Ronan; Thatcher meets the Queen; Erotic art from Japan

02/10/2013

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Saoirse Ronan; Thatcher meets the Queen; Erotic art from Japan

Mark Lawson meets actress Saoirse Ronan, who stars in the film How I Live Now.

Mark Lawson meets actress Saoirse Ronan; Moira Buffini's play about Margaret Thatcher's meetings with the Queen; the exhibition Shunga: Sex and Humour in Japanese Art.

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, and examines why they became taboo in the 20th century. Writer and novelist Bidisha reviews

As Michael Symmons Roberts wins the Forward Prize for a book of poems each with a self-imposed limit of 15 lines, Front Row reflects on size restrictions in art - with Ian Christie on film, David Hepworth on music and Cathy Rentzenbrink on literature.

Producer Nicki Paxman.

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