Theatrical work, elevated work about soldier (5)
I believe the answer is:
panto
'theatrical work' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'elevated work about soldier' is the wordplay.
'elevated' says the letters should be written backwards (in a down clue, letters go up).
'work' becomes 'op' (abbreviation for opus).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'soldier' becomes 'ant' (soldier ant is a type of ant).
'op' back-to-front is 'po'.
'po' enclosing 'ant' is 'PANTO'.
(Other definitions for panto that I've seen before include "Christmas show" , "Trad. Christmas fun (abbr.)" , "theatrical work" , "lowbrow entertainment" , "type of show" .)