When six college girls take over the Rainbow Lodge, an isolated hotel in the Colorado wilderness, things begin to happen. They are warned to stay away, but being young, they don't listen to the advice. They should have. Indications are that a previous owner stashed a sack of gold somewhere in the hotel. The search for the "pot of gold at the end of the Rainbow" results in mystery, murder, and mirth. And in the middle of it all is an INVISIBLE MAN with a weird sense of humor...or is he really invisible!

Houstonian Eddie Cope based this comedy mystery thriller very loosely on H. G. Wells' science-fiction novel. As the author of Agatha Christie Made Me Do It, Frankenstein's Centerfold, and Don't Print That, among others published by Clark, he is well-known in community theatre circles over a wide area. This dramatization has the delightful mixture of humor and suspense that have made Eddie Cope's other plays so popular.

The story was made into a movie in 1933 starring Claude Rains. In the movie the Invisible Man wore bandages, and as he unwound the bandages, he disappeared. The unwrapping was a sensational special effect, and people flocked to the cinema to see it. You probably can't duplicate this action on the stage, but you can provide others that are just as effective—a fight with a visible character and the way his voice moves around the stage. Production Notes in the script give specific suggestions for handling these effects and others: "The actions of the Invisible Man can be so realistic that the audience will almost believe he is really on stage."

Premiered by a community theatre, the play is also suitable for colleges and high schools—and all groups who like to mystify and thrill their audiences.

Three acts; hotel lobby; present time.

"Hilarious"—Los Angeles Times. "It's a laugh a minute."—Pasadena Citizen. "Cope...moves the tale forward at a brisk and even clip."— Houston Chronicle. Set attendance records at Houston's Theatre Suburbia. "Found a gem and we're eager to get started!"—Bonnie Spark, St. Pius High School, Atlanta, Ga. "We saw The Invisible Man...last summer. We found the play perfect for our theatre situation."—William R. Fair III, Gas Light Theatre, Shreveport, La.

Other Cope plays: Agatha Christie Tackles Texas, Airport 1904, The Last Tango in Pango Pango, Without a Clue

See also: Mystery, Murder, and Mayhem