GEORGE Frideric Handel’s last oratorio “Jephtha” tells the tragic story of the biblical leader who swore an oath to sacrifice the first thing or person he sees if he returns victorious from a great battle. It is his own daughter.

“A powerful depiction of a desperate leader who makes a rash promise in order to win – an all-too-familiar scenario in our modern political environment,” is how Canberra musical director Toby Cole sees the work.

Cole is about to restore an adaptation of Handel’s work with his production, “The Vow”.

The exquisite music helps unfold the tragedy, says Cole, in a way that is inspiring and affecting – and here’s the good thing, it’s all written in English, with an eloquent libretto by the Rev Thomas Morell.

“This means that Australian audiences will directly experience the characters’ thoughts and emotions as they are expressed,” says Cole, who believes that Handel’s English-language operas and oratorios are ripe for theatrical exploration and are as dramatic as anything in the popular romantic repertoire.

As he stands down from directing the Canberra Choral Society, he and local chorister Kelly Corner have formed a new theatre company called Handel in the Theatre.

They’ve successfully crowdfunded this debut production and scored ArtsACT project funding, too.

Cole faces the task of popularising Handel with enormous optimism, pointing to Australian director Barrie Kosky’s smash hit with his version of Handel’s “Saul”, coming to the Adelaide Festival next year, and to his own successes with semi-staged productions of Handel performed in The Playhouse.

As a young vocal student in England during 2001, Cole was stirred by the drama, the passion, and the superb fusion of the music and the words of that same “Saul” and, by engaging professional creative support, he is determined to bring works like it to life as operas, not just oratorios. He has engaged expert Handel conductor Brett Weymark; choreographer, designer Imogen Keen; lighting designer Cynthia Jolley-Rogers and choreographer Belynda Buck and a team of story layover singers.

“The Vow” involves a little tweaking of the Morell libretto, designed to produce a more inspiring and positive ending.

Tenor Andrew Goodwin will play Jephtha, soprano Jacqueline Porter his daughter Iphis, Canberra mezzo-soprano Christina Wilson takes on the role of the mother, Storgè, while Christopher Richardson plays the antagonist Zebul and Sarahlouise Owens the angel. Cole directs and plays the part of Iphis’s beloved, Hamor.

Toby Cole’s boundless optimism is infectious as he embarks on a collaborative production where even the choristers from the CCS will be choreographed.

“The Vow”, Canberra Playhouse, October 8, bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.