Recounts Laertes' disaster (7)
I believe the answer is:
relates
'recounts' is the definition.
(relating is a kind of recounting)
'laertes' disaster' is the wordplay.
'disaster' indicates anagramming the letters.
'laertes' with letters rearranged gives 'RELATES'.
(Other definitions for relates that I've seen before include "Narrates" , "Describes" , "Tells (a tale)" , "couples" .)