Ring exercises - oddly real drama (5)
I believe the answer is:
opera
'drama' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'ring exercises oddly real' is the wordplay.
'ring' becomes 'o'.
'exercises' becomes 'pe'.
'oddly' means one should take alternating letters.
The alternating letters of 'real' are 'ra'.
'o'+'pe'+'ra'='OPERA'
(Other definitions for opera that I've seen before include "E.g. Macbeth, Falstaff" , "Throw a rope for the musical" , "Aida, for example" , "Eg, Carmen" , "Music and drama production" .)