French puppeteer and theatrical producer. Son-in-law and successor of Alexandre Bertrand who had hired him for his troupe and whose daughter, Anne, Bienfait married. From 1717 to 1750, Nicolas Bienfait became a highly skilled and well-known director of puppet theatres in the Parisian Saint-Laurent (summer) and Saint-Germain (winter) fairs.

In addition to Cendre chaude (Hot Ash), a little bawdy comedy that made his reputation, he presented many other plays by Carolet, with vaudevillesque titles: L’Entêtement des spectacles (The Obstinancy of Shows, Saint-Laurent Fair, 1722), L’Anti-Claperman, ou le Somnifère des maris (The Anti-Claperman, or the Husbands’ Sleeping Pill), preceded by Ines et Marianne aux champs Élysées (Ines and Marianne at the Champs Élysées, Saint-Laurent Fair, 1723), Les Eaux de Passy (The Waters of Passy, Saint-Germain Fair, 1724), Les Petites Maisons (The Little Houses, Saint-Laurent Fair, 1727), Polichinelle Cupidon, ou l’Amour contrefait (Cupid Polichinelle, or Counterfeit Love, Saint-Laurent Fair, 1731), Le Palais de l’ennui, ou le Triomphe de Polichinelle (The Palace of Boredom, or Polichinelle’s Triumph, Saint-Laurent Fair, 1731), Polichinelle Alcide, ou le Héros en quenouille (Alcide Polichinelle, or the Fallen Hero, 1733), La Grenouillère galante (The Gallant Frog Pond, Saint-Laurent Fair, 1735), Polichinelle Atys (Polichinelle Atys, Saint-Germain Fair, 1736), L’Assemblée des poissardes, ou Polichinelle maître d’hôtel (The Assembly of Fishwives, or Polichinelle Maître d’, Saint-Germain Fair, 1737) …

While his wife performed with wax figures on the Rue de la Bûcherie, Nicolas Bienfait secured his reputation as an established entertainer with productions of successful fashionable parodies, authored by Charles Simon Favart (who launched his writing career with Bienfait), Louis Fuzelier and Dorneval, or Valois d’Orville. Dame Gigogne, one of the puppets most well-liked by fair audiences, could be seen in several shows: Polichinelle et dame Gigogne (Polichinelle and Dame Gigogne), L’Île des fées, ou le Géant aux marionnettes (The Island of Fairies, or the Giant with Puppets), La Noce interrompue (The Interrupted Wedding) …

Around 1746, just like many itinerant puppeteers of the times, Bienfait attempted producing plays using large machinery, with spectacles simulating fires and lootings. He presented Les Bombardements de la ville d’Anvers, ou Assaut général de Berg-op-Zoom (The Bombing of the City of Antwerp, or the General Assault of Berg-op-Zoom). He renamed his theatre Les Comédiens-Praticiens français (The French Actors-Practitioners) in reference to the “pratique” (swazzle) of the puppeteer. He also directed a children’s troupe: the Petits Comédiens pantomimes (The Little Pantomime Actors). In 1749, he opened with Prévost another theatre in the Rue Xaintonge near the Boulevards. He attempted by all means available to him to avoid financial failure but was unsuccessful, and his box at the Saint-Laurent Fair was taken from him in 1750.

Nicolas Bienfait’s descendants continued his legacy. His son, Nicolas Bienfait II, took the title of the only puppeteer to the Dauphin of France in 1746 and had a box at the Saint-Germain Fair until 1762. His grandson, Nicolas Bienfait III, after having played harlequin characters at the theatre of Jean-Baptiste Nicolet, also performed a puppet play at the Saint-Germain Fair in 1772.

(See Fairs, France, Itinerant Troupes, Travelling Puppeteers.)