If you have been around theatre tech for any length of time, you may have heard of "Qlab" a program used to play back music and sound effects, send out midi cues, control projections and, in the most recent version, control light fixtures using DMX512.
It is an amazing program, but presents a few problems for use in an amateur setting, the biggest of which is the cost. The second largest obstacle to it being used, is the fact that it only runs on macOS which, somewhat funnily enough, also boils down to cost. Most theatre groups are generally not able to afford splashing out for a Mac just for running tech. There are lots of free or cheaper options available on Windows, which is much more attainable with a low budget.
This all brings me to the focus of this article: Multiplay
Multiplay is a great little program given the price (It's very low, I swear!), but this glowing praise does come with a couple of cautions. Firstly, the software hasnt been in active development since late 2013, which means there is no support (that I am aware of anyway) from the developer. I've also never found any decent tutorials that really go trough the programs full capabilities. Secondly, because it is freeware, Multiplay is not without it's bugs and quirks. The biggest one of these is the reliability in relation to file types. Audio cues tend to only work with MP3 or WAV files as far as I have found so far, and even then, sometimes files of those types don't work. I think this is related to the bit-rate or some other aspect of files (I am by no means an expert on sound file types or digital audio). The other major flaw that I've come across is that the Video playback has never been particularly useful. I admit, I haven't really put any effort into testing it thoroughly, but the few times that I did try to use it, it didn't work very well if at all.
Putting those aside, in general Multiplay is a very useful program if you need to playback Music or sound cues for your show with no budget for tech. But its use extends beyond just sound. In my opinion, the second most useful feature offered is the ability to send Midi commands. With this, it is possible to control other programs, which can streamline the tech requirements for a show greatly. In fact, it is possible to (with a bit of trial and error and using other software) run an entire show via one cuelist.
I recommend that any Techies who don't have access to a big budget check out Multiplay. Give it a shot, run a show with it and see how you like it.
If you have come across any decent alternatives that are cheap or free, let me know in the comments. I'm always looking to expand my repertoire of decent software to help run shows.