CENTERVILLE – When it comes to verbal fencing, women are far from the weaker sex.

In fact, the ladies almost manage to steal the show in CenterPoint Legacy Theatre’s current production of “The Importance of Being Earnest,” running now through April 28 in the Connie Leishman Performance Hall (located in the southwest corner of the Davis Center for the Performing Arts). When they face off halfway through Oscar Wilde’s twisty verbal farce, the sparks that fly light up the stage and set the rest of the show blazing all the way to the last scene.

The show, featuring romantic entanglements, inopportune names, and convenient relations, demands a lot out of its cast in both verbal dexterity and oh-so-proper British accents. As such there’s a bit more stumbling on the lines than usual, particularly in the opening scene, but Richie Uminski adeptly manages the wonderfully arch tones and constant smug smile of the bored and rich while keeping the character Algernon Moncrieff still likeable. Later, when he discovers that his romantic life has progressed completely without his knowledge, he strikes just the right tone needed to make the scene work.

To read more, check out the April 5 edition of the Davis Clipper.