Guide female lead in play, and her daughter (8)
I believe the answer is:
shepherd
'guide' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'female lead in play and her daughter' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'she' (I've seen this before).
'lead in' indicates taking the first letters.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'daughter' becomes 'd'.
The initial letter of 'play' is 'p'.
'she'+'p'+'her'+'d'='SHEPHERD'
(Other definitions for shepherd that I've seen before include "Guide, direct" , "Pastor" , "Flock tender" , "lamb tender" , "dog German lost" .)