Dramatist's database kept with hesitation in a file (10)
I believe the answer is:
strindberg
'dramatist's database' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'kept with hesitation in a file' is the wordplay.
'kept with' becomes 'db' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'hesitation' becomes 'er' (sound made while hesitating - um, er).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'a file' becomes 'string' (file can mean a string or row).
'db'+'er'='dber'
'dber' put within 'string' is 'STRINDBERG'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for strindberg that I've seen before include "playwright" , "August --, dramatist" .)