I am contracted in Maine to produce a type of theatrical drama (4)
I believe the answer is:
mime
'a type of theatrical drama' is the definition.
(mime is a type of performance)
'i am contracted in maine' is the wordplay.
'am' becomes 'MA' (synonyms).
'contracted' means to remove the last letter (to contract is to shorten).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'maine' becomes 'me'.
'i'+'ma'='ima'
'ima' with its last letter taken off is 'im'.
'im' inserted within 'me' is 'MIME'.
'to produce' is the link.
(Other definitions for mime that I've seen before include "Copy, ape" , "Silent artform" , "Marcel Marceau's art" , "Act without words, like Marcel Marceau (4)" , "Acting without words" .)