The play concerns twins, a cold, manipulative playboy Hugo, and his sensitive brother Frédéric.
Frédéric is madly in love with Diana, the spoiled daughter of a self-made millionaire.
To show to Frédéric that Diana is not worth his attentions, Hugo invites to a ball Isabelle, a lower-class dancer, whom he Pygmalion-like transforms into an aristocratic beauty.
The first production on Broadway, in 1950, starred Denholm Elliott and Stella Andrew.
The French composer Francis Poulenc wrote a chamber suite on Invitation to the Castle.