Drink before a crisis (5)
I believe the answer is:
drama
'crisis' is the definition.
(drama can mean a dramatic situation)
'drink before a' is the wordplay.
'drink' becomes 'dram' (small alcoholic drink).
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'dram'+'a'='DRAMA'
(Other definitions for drama that I've seen before include "Literary genre for the theatre" , "Play; emotional event" , "Theatrical work" , "Play - excitement" , "Plays as a genre" .)