Tot seen before a play (5)
I believe the answer is:
drama
'play' is the definition.
(I know that play can be written as drama)
'tot seen before a' is the wordplay.
'tot' becomes 'dram' (both can mean an alcoholic drink).
'seen before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'dram'+'a'='DRAMA'
(Other definitions for drama that I've seen before include "Literary genre for the stage" , "Exciting series of events" , "Theatre or radio play" , "Hamlet, say" , "theatre performance" .)