Establish level for the audience (5)
I believe the answer is:
raise
'establish' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'level for the audience' is the wordplay.
'level' becomes 'raze' (synonyms).
'for the audience' shows a homophone (sound like) (how an audience might hear it).
'raze' is a homophone of 'RAISE'.
(Other definitions for raise that I've seen before include "Breed" , "Care for during childhood" , "Pick up" , "Wage increase" , "Lift; (to) levy (money)" .)