Militant part of drama to be played out much earlier? (8)
I believe the answer is:
activist
'militant' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'part of drama to be played out much earlier?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'part' could be 'act' (I have seen 'Part of play ' mean 'act' so perhaps 'part' could also mean 'act') and 'act' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for activist that I've seen before include "One who plays a vigorous role, especially in politics" , "Human dynamo" , "Cause promoter" , "Militant" , "forceful person" .)