Award boy in play in theatreland (8)
I believe the answer is:
broadway
'theatreland' is the definition.
(Broadway theatres in New York)
'award boy in play' is the wordplay.
'in play' indicates anagramming the letters.
'award'+'boy'='awardboy'
'awardboy' is an anagram of 'BROADWAY'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for broadway that I've seen before include "Theatre district in New York" , "that divides Manhattan" , "New York Theaterland" , "that took in Chicago and Oklahoma!" , "Cotswold village" .)