Michael Hinden in 1981 dubbed "Jumpers" "Stoppard's most ambitious work"; noting the many references to other literary figures and philosophers, Hinden also referred to it as a very literate play "which ties itself by many threads to an unraveling tradition of literature and thought. [...] few contemporary plays are as passionate or as intelligently written." Richard Christiansen praised the "sparkling wit and dark despair" of the text. Despite describing the Court Theatre performance he attended as somewhat uninvolving, Christiansen argued that "Stoppard keeps play's disparate forces laced together with bouncy wordplay and knockabout comedy." Nigel Purse in "Tom Stoppard's Plays" lauded the play for thematic devices and humor that reflect or enhance the themes, writing that "the seeming chaos actually has an explanation within the framework of the debate on morality." Bill Alexander's 1999 production was derided by critics, but the play itself was still praised in "The Independent" as having "spry mental gymnastics".