Mother takes in older sort of play (9)
I believe the answer is:
melodrama
'play' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'mother takes in older sort' is the wordplay.
'mother' becomes 'mama' (mama is a kind of mother**).
'takes in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'sort' is an anagram indicator.
'older' anagrammed gives 'elodr'.
'mama' enclosing 'elodr' is 'MELODRAMA'.
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for melodrama that I've seen before include "Sensational entertainment" , "Exceptionally sensational play" , "Extravagantly styled play" , "Tear-jerker" , "Sensational type of play" .)