Was outside the theatre advertising one's needs! (5)

I believe the answer is:

wants

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'needs' is the definition.
(I know this)

'was outside the theatre' is the wordplay.
'outside' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'the theatre' becomes 'NT' (National Theatre).
'was' going around 'nt' is 'WANTS'.

'advertising one's' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for wants that I've seen before include "Needs" , "Desires" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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