Rings about the lines in play (7)
I believe the answer is:
othello
'play' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'rings about the lines' is the wordplay.
'rings' becomes 'oo' (multiple circles).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'lines' becomes 'll' (I've seen this in other clues).
'the'+'ll'='thell'
'oo' enclosing 'thell' is 'OTHELLO'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for othello that I've seen before include "Moorish gentleman" , "He murdered his wife Desdemona" , "game with counters" , "Jealous character" , "Shakespearean play" .)