It should be laughter all the way when "with cat-like tread'', the police pursue `The Pirates of Penzance' all over the stage of City Hall this week.

Having chosen what is arguably the funniest of all the famous Victorian shows for their 25th anniversary production, the Gilbert & Sullivan Society has plumped for the modernised version by Joseph Papp, which caused a sensation when it was staged on Broadway with Linda Ronstadt and Kevin Kline.

Director Richard Fell promises that the new approach will be brighter, funnier, and more in tune with contemporary taste -- or, in Papp's own words, to work "directly from the script and music rather than from the `traditional' staging''.

Above all, says Fell, it is a "young'' production. "After all, we're talking about pirates and policemen, so we felt we needed younger, athletic people,'' he says.

He has come up with an impressive line-up of talent, with a cast list that includes Gordon Campbell as the Pirate King, Keith Madeiros as the Police Sergeant, John Ross as `the very model of a modern' Major General, Rhona Vallender as nursemaid Ruth, Wayne Holt as first mate Samuel, with Nancy Thompson and Mark Hamilton providing the `young love' interest.

As choreographer Barbara Frith points out: "This is really a man's show -- and as far as the dancing goes, it's the policemen who have had to tackle most of what we think are some very comical dance movements. They have been really great in rehearsal, and wonderful to work with. Some of the guys are very agile, three of them are school students and one is only 15-years-old, so it's certainly a young cast. I would describe this show,'' she muses, "as a combination of the Hasty Puddings and the Keystone Cops. Needless to say, Keith Madeiros is absolutely fantastic as the police sergeant, whose professionalism seems to inspire the rest of the cast.'' Canadian Nancy Thompson, in the Ronstadt role of Mabel, is playing her first leading role in Bermuda. She grew up in Japan where she had a lengthy run on a TV show and also played Alice in Tokyo's Disneyland for two years. Now, with two small children, she says she has been pleasantly surprised to find "so much talent in such a tiny place. It's wonderful to have the opportunity to tackle a role like this.'' "We call her `Linda' when we want to get her attention,'' confides Keith Madeiros. "Oh yes, I love my role as the police sergeant. I've never considered myself a singer, but I don't think I've hit too many wrong notes! I like to mix a bit of dancing and singing together -- then you can wing it,'' reveals the actor who has scored huge successes as one of the `Axperts' in the pantomime `Sinbad', in `Evita', `Me and My Girl' and, most recently in the farce, `Noises Off'.

Madeiros actually began acting when he was still at Mount St. Agnes Academy and then discovered, when `Pippin' was staged, that he could do it at City Hall as well: "I suppose I've always enjoyed being able to make people laugh, although it may have began as a kind of defence mechanism -- to get people on your side!'' He only decided to try out for `Pirates', he reveals, when he learned that Richard Fell was to direct. "We've played onstage together but I've never been directed by him, so I couldn't miss that chance.'' He believes that John Ross is "a wonderful choice'' for the Major General.

"I can't think of anyone more perfect for the part. I don't know if he knows how funny he is -- and to have him playing with Gordon Campbell who is about eight feet tall, and John so short -- it looks wonderful visually.'' Pirates to provide a laugh The lavish sets have been designed and constructed by John Thompson and Richard Klesniks, with Liz Campbell in charge of costumes.

On one level, `The Pirates of Penzance' is a `cops and robbers' plot, spiced by W.S. Gilbert's satirical slant on the idea of `doing one's duty', however absurd the circumstances.

Cheated of their fees through `pirated' American productions of `HMS Pinafore', Gilbert and Sullivan decided to launch `Pirates' in the US. With British copyright established by one performance (without orchestra) in a theatre in Paignton, Devon, the duo staged a lavish opening of their new show at the New Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York on New Year's Eve, 1879. It was an instant hit.

`The Pirates of Penzance', produced by Marjorie Stanton, opens at City Hall Theatre tomorrow, October 10 through 19 at 8 p.m., with a Sunday Matinee on October 13 at 3 p.m. Tickets at $25 are available from the City Hall Box Office (telephone 295-1727), between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays. There will be a champagne reception in the foyer following the first night performance.

`STAY, FREDERICK, STAY!' -- One of the numbers sung by Mabel (Nancy Thompson) to Frederick (Mark Hamilton) in a scene from Gilbert & Sullivan's `The Pirates of Penzance', which opens at City Hall tomorrow evening.