Hamlet Again

Really enjoyed the production of Hamlet at Shakespeare Santa Cruz. A fairly conventional production, with a leather-jacket wearing Hamlet played by Ryan Artzberger. He seemed comfortable playing Hamlet, and I don't think I've seen that very many actors.

Claudius, however... Why does that seem to be such a hard role?

I don't think I've ever left a performance of Hamlet thinking, wow, what a fantastic Claudius. I'm beginning to think that it's simply an impossible role. Competent actors mangle it, while the better ones seem to be able to do no more than not embarrass themselves. He's oddly bland, which is something I never realized while reading the play. Theodore Swetz seems to have thrown a lot of talent into the role, but still achieved no more than a vague sense of villainy.

They are also doing The Comedy of Errors, and I've heard it's very good. But I'm having a hard time convincing people to make another trek from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. What to do?