Rings circling the lines in play (7)
I believe the answer is:
othello
'play' is the definition.
(play by William Shakespeare)
'rings circling the lines' is the wordplay.
'rings' becomes 'oo' (two O's - O resembles a ring).
'circling' means one lot of letters goes inside another (circling can mean going around or containing).
'lines' becomes 'll' (two abbreviations for line).
'the'+'ll'='thell'
'oo' going around 'thell' is 'OTHELLO'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for othello that I've seen before include "board game" , "He murdered his wife Desdemona" , "Desdemona's husband" , "Literary character" , "Shakespeare tragedy" .)