Alice Grein

Born Alice Augusta Greveen in Camberwell in 1874, Alice Grein's parents were Ernst and Maria Greveen, both born in Germany. Her father was a silk merchant. On the 1901 Census her brother Charlie listed as an actor. Alice married Jack Thomas Grein in 1904 and on the 1911 census her husband Jack is an "East India merchant, consul and dramatic critic". Alice was an actress, performing with the Independent Theatre Society and in her own plays. She later wrote and edited a biography of Jack (J. T. Grein: The Story of a Pioneer. London: John Murray, 1936) under the pseudonym Michael Orme. Grein's greatest achievement was founding the Independent Theatre Society in 1891. Their first production was Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts in 1891. Their performances were held as "private" subscription performances, which allowed them to present plays that were not officially licensed by the Lord Chamberlain's Office. Alice (also Alix) Augusta Grein wrote "A Happy Nook" (1901) and "Renaissance" (1905) as Alice Greveen. Under the name Michael Orme she wrote: "Those Who Sit in Judgement" (1904), "La Pompadour" (1911), "Wedding Bells (1911), "The Widow and the Waiter" (1915); "The Woman at the Windowsill" (1917), "Cavalleria Rusticana" (1919), "Great Aunt Elizabeth" (1919), "The Doctor of Dreams" from a Dutch play Femina (1921), "Life's A Game" (1922), "The Greatest Invention of Them All" (1922). She wrote "The Eternal Snows" (1916) as M. Orme and "The Hotel de Waterloo" (1916) as Mrs Grein. Alice Augusta Grein died in Kensington in 1944 at the age of 70.