Frantically cast around for missing female performers (6)
I believe the answer is:
actors
'missing female performers' is the definition.
'actors' can be an answer for 'performers' (actor is a kind of performer). I am not sure about the 'missing female' bit.
'frantically cast around for' is the wordplay.
'frantically' indicates an anagram (I've seen this in other clues).
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'for' becomes 'or' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'cast' with letters rearranged gives 'acts'.
'acts' enclosing 'or' is 'ACTORS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for actors that I've seen before include "Theatrical performers" , "Players on stage" , "They 23 down" , "Thespians" , "eg 9 & 11 across" .)