Yes, the standard Divine Office version worked well when I was at St George's Cathedral, Southwark. We always used Now thank we all our God as the hymn, because the congregation can easily sing it.
We kept watching going till quarter to midnight and then had night prayer. Numbers would run down rapidly after Mass, to about half a dozen, and then build up again as people returned from supper, to maybe 20 after 11.15pm (plus clergy). The nominal Catholic parish population is 3500, Mass attendance 1500 half of whom are not local residents. To get this effect you probably need to build a tradition gradually, Westminster don't do it.

At least three churches doing the OF around where I am close with compline; in fact, the seminarians of the diocese seem to have a tradition of going to one of these churches for the compline at 11 o'clock, and my family generally goes to this before we go back to our EF church where adoration goes until midnight.

Anyhow, this church does their 11 o'clock Holy Thursday OF compline exactly the same way every year, so watch what you pick - you might get stuck with it.

[E.g. just go with Gregorian psalm tones from the start.]

I would think your process would be: find out the prescribed Latin / Gregorian chants for this day's Compline, and if there are still options at that level, which options are the best traditionally. Then, once you have this paradigm straight, see how close you can stick to it for your situation doing mostly English.

At any rate, that's how I would probably approach the question.

[Though polyphony is not much on my radar.]

Anyhow, there seem to be a couple of specifically chant books out there which would probably cover this, such as THIS.

@Viola. There is not short responsory on Maundy Thursday. But there is the antiphon Christus factus est... that you reference. Maybe one of the following will do?

Jacob Handl: Christus factus est (two short settings).

Our Parish in London always celebrates Compline, at 11.30pm on Maunday Thursday, although adoration has continued all night on many occasions. We have been doing this for at least 10 years maybe 15+...

While this is an OF parish with an EF community, the parish celebrations always use the EF for the Divine Office.

Of course Compline (and the other hours) for the Triduum are different from the usual Compline (at least in the EF). We follow the Tradition of reciting the texts for Compline and Vespers (recto tono), although melodies do exsist and have been in use at various times in Church history.

Wimpish? - or practical in the sense that singers voices tend to be in their trough during times when they are usually in bed (diurnal congestion cycle....) - unless you are blessed with a schola/choir full of night owls.

We have a simple Compline (quite early - at 9.30): choir stays behind, but it is very much a congregational service. A couple of years ago I composed some hymn words for it:

Opening hymn:

1. From your Last Supper, Lord, we come,
from sharing bread and wine –
your very Body and your Blood:
Passover’s victory sign.

2. At that great Feast the Master served,
the greatest was the least:
by this example may our care
for others be increased.

3. An evening vigil, Lord, we keep;
we scatter not, but stay.
And with you on Mount Olivet,
‘God’s will be done,’ we pray.

4. For it was God’s mysterious will
to offer you, his Son,
to desolation and to death
that for us life be won.

(which we sing to the tune 'St Bernard')

and a metrical Nunc Dimittis (which we sing to 'Finlandia'):

1. “At last now, Master, you have let your servant
depart in peace, according to your word;
for with my eyes salvation I have witnessed,
which for all peoples, Lord, you have prepared:
a light of revelation to all nations
and for the glory of your Israel.”

2. Glory to God, the Father and Creator,
to Christ, his Son, a Light for all the world,
and to the sanctifying Breath, the Spirit:
all praise and honour to the Three-in-One:
glory and honour, as in the beginning,
may there be now, and for eternity.

I make no claims for their literary quality; if you're desperate, feel free to use them.

Following the helpful suggestions received on this thread we sang Compline at 10pm on Holy Thursday 2017. It was prefaced by the small choir singing Padre Martini's 'In monte Oliveti' then we sang Compline itself in English to Gregorian psalm tones. The cathedral was in darkness except for the Altar of Repose, where Compline took place by candlelight, led by the Bishop.
People liked it and have asked for it again this year. We hope to do the same again, with Handl's setting of the short antiphon 'Christus Factus est, and Croce's motet 'O vos omnes' sung beforehand. Personally I found it very prayerful and moving, well worth attempting.

Our OF parish has for at least the last 10 years EF compline, at 11.30pm this on some years closes the adorations, but on other we have had all night adoration.