Mariko is a New York–based physical comedian, clown, actor, and dancer from Japan. She first cut her clowning teeth touring with the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus before making her mark on the East Coast stage, including The Play That Goes Wrong and her award-winning role as Snoopy in A Charlie Brown Christmas. In Japan, she has performed with leading orchestras, including the Tokyo Philharmonic and Hiroshima Philharmonic, and in New York, she appears with Bindlestiff Family Circus, Parallel Exit, and BATSU! NYC. She is also a healthcare clown, and works throughout the city’s comedy, cabaret, and variety show scene.
Yurika Ono is an artist originally from Japan and currently based in New York City. Since moving to NYC, Yurika has performed in numerous productions, including the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and New York Fashion Week, and made her theater debut at Fireside Theatre in It’s a Wonderful Life. Yurika is currently performing in BATSU! NYC. She is honored to be part of BATSU!’s new show, GANBA!! and grateful for the support of her family, teachers, and friends.
Rina is a classical voice trained musical theater actress from Tokyo, Japan. She graduated from AMDA with professional training in Musical Theater and has a BA in Classical Voice from Tokyo University of the Arts. Favorite theater credits include A Chorus Line, The Tempest, Miss Saigon, The King and I (Tuptim u/s) and CHUSHINGURA-47 RONIN (Off-Broadway), the production cast on the Viking Ocean Cruise. Rina performed the American National Anthem at New York Mets home ground Citi field in New York during the annual Japanese Heritage Night. She currently performs in BATSU! NYC and is also a 4th apprentice to Rakugoka (Traditional Japanese Storyteller) Katsura Sunshine, and performs Rakugo in English as Katsura Sunflower.
Steve Zegers is really excited to be back at the Edinburgh Fringe with BATSU! and as a part of the original cast of GANBA!! His day job is teaching science in Brooklyn NY, where he also trains champion falcons and makes fine furniture from reclaimed sunken river logs. (Two of those are lies) but Improv has been his creative true love since high school. Ganba means "Go for it" and getting to be a part of this is basically the greatest "Go for it" of them all. This is something I try to teach all my students too! Thanks and love to H and C who inspire me to GANBA!! every single day.