Pandora's Box - Internet trolling, stories of  the mistreatment of kangaroos, links to organised crime, rumours of money laundering, the collapse of a family dynasty and a sense of disbelief ...

"A shocking turn of events - Gosh what have we uncovered here?
We will not however be silenced " Julia Foenander (writer)

Writers note ;My grandmother Rita (the main character) had a saying 'I don't want to talk about it'. She used it to shut down difficult conversations and we all knew to keep quiet whenever she said that. What began as a simple project to make ' a 'lovely play about a friendship between two men in 1965' has turned up more questions than answers. Over the past few years we have had many people come forth with their stories of Ron, Rita and mostly Bert Haynes - the founder of Pampas Pastry. 

We have an indepth interview with Ron Vincents daughter who recalls what happened in Italy in 1965 according to her fathers phone calls at the time and what he said afterwards. We also have brief accounts from Rita herself before she passed away in 2019. The Haynes family have declined to participate in this production, they have been welcomed to share their side of the story, showcase their films at our events however there only response has been (in short) 'It's not true'. They have not seen the play. The do however concede the following is true ;

 

Ron Vincent and Bert Haynes went to Italy together  in 1965

Bert passed away in Italy on the trip

The families were friends

 

What exactly is not true (or true) remains a mystery. As of 2023 there is only one person left who was there in 1965 on the Haynes side of the family and she does not wish to talk about what happened other than to say 'It's not true". The NFSA have offered to preserve Bert's films from the trip but the family have declined this offer, they have also declined to have them shown in this production or reveal what is on the films (if they even exist)

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Photo Left - A source who came forward and would prefer to remain anonymous tells stories of his father who advised Bert, who had been a pastry cook in the army, to start up his own pastry business. He tells stories from his childhood of leaving flour covered footprints in the Pampus factory and some shocking allegations of someone writing off Mercedes Benz cars after deliberately hitting kangaroos on his way home. He has also donated the photo above, some film footage and has an interesting story about a ring that was sent from Italy in 1965 in the final days.