Wee drink before start of Ayckbourn play (5)
I believe the answer is:
drama
'play' is the definition.
('drama' can be a synonym of 'play')
'wee drink before start of ayckbourn' is the wordplay.
'wee drink' becomes 'dram' (I've seen this before).
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'start of' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'ayckbourn' is 'a'.
'dram'+'a'='DRAMA'
(Other definitions for drama that I've seen before include "Play (as a genre)" , "Literary genre for the stage" , "Theatrical production" , "show of histrionics" , "Theatrical play" .)