Jumpers

A comedy by Tom Stoppard, Jumpers is staged at Hampstead Theatre in London, directed by Blanche McIntyre, and centres on a party, a murder and a professor's philosophical paper.

Tom Stoppard's 1972 comedy follows George, a professor of moral philosophy, who sits up late writing a paper on whether mankind is good, bad or indifferent. Britain has just put a man on the moon, and the Radical Liberal party has swept to power in a landslide. George's wife, Dotty, a reclusive former musical star, is hosting a rowdy election party with a full band and live acrobatics. Irritated by the noise, George makes an anonymous complaint to the police, who arrive the next morning for a different reason: a murder took place at the party, and Dotty is the prime suspect.

The production returns to the London stage after more than twenty years away. It follows earlier Stoppard productions at Hampstead Theatre, including Indian Ink, The Invention of Love, Rock 'n'Roll and Hapgood. Blanche McIntyre directs, returning to Stoppard's work after The Invention of Love; her other Hampstead productions include Stage Kiss, The Assembled Parties and Letters from Max.

The comedy mixes a murder investigation, a marriage and George's philosophical preoccupations, and it is staged at Hampstead Theatre in Swiss Cottage.