What a weird kind of waterbird Simon Stone is. He came to prominence a few years ago with a theatre group called the Hayloft Project and a production of the Thyestes of Seneca (the Roman more often cited as the precedent for Shakespeare’s violence than performed) that left everyone incandescent with awe. There was a superb production of Wedekind’s Spring Awakening, a ghastly one of Brecht’s Baal and then there was a production of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck that commanded the attention of the theatre-going nation: it was set in a glass box and performed with a degree of telegraphic naturalism that left little room for the swirling black waters of Ibsen’s symbolism or his troll kingdoms. It had a top professional cast (Ewen Leslie as the husband, Anita Hegh as the wife, Toby Schmitz as the friend who returns with revelations, John Gaden as his rich father) and a new ending…by Simon Stone.

Well, now he has written yet another version of The Wild Duck and filmed it as The Daughter. It’s been made in the New South Wales high country, has Geoffrey Rush as the old capitalist and Sam Neill as the bushie who went to jail after working with him. It’s quite a cinematic calling card to make out of a passion for tinkering with other people’s masterpieces.