Play area found by tot (5)
I believe the answer is:
drama
'play' is the definition.
(I know that play can be written as drama)
'area found by tot' is the wordplay.
'area' becomes 'a' (maths abbreviation).
'found by' says to put letters next to each other.
'tot' becomes 'dram' (I've seen this before).
'a' put after 'dram' is 'DRAMA'.
(Other definitions for drama that I've seen before include "Play - crisis" , "Theatrical performance" , "Work to be performed by actors" , "Stage play, may be exciting" , "Plays as branch of literature" .)