Front Row

Fracked! Or: Please don't use the F-word is a comedy in Chichester about shale extraction. Playwright Alistair Beaton explains how he keeps the play topical in times of fast political change, and how he cast actor James Bolam when he met him demonstrating against a potential fracking site in Sussex. The art of the self-portrait - why do artists portray themselves? From Rembrandt's unflinching treatment of his ageing reflection to Ai Weiwei's politically-charged use of social media, a new exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh sets out to answer that question. Moira Jeffrey reviews Facing the World.Someone Knows My Name is a Canadian historical drama which tells the true story of a West African girl who campaigns for her freedom after she is abducted into slavery in South Carolina. Kevin Le Gendre reviews this TV adaptation.Marcus Harvey first attracted public attention as a YBA with his portrait of the child killer Myra Hindley, created from a small child's handprints. Protestors pi