Following the success of the National Theatre in London’s Christmas shows, His Dark Materials, Coram Boy and War Horse, Mark Ravenhill is this year adapting Terry Pratchett’s latest novel, Nation. To mark this we are running a competition for young people aged between 10 and 17, to stage and film their own adaptation of an extract from Nation, and then upload these short films to our specially created YouTube channel.

The closing date is midday on Friday 13 November.

Two winning entries (one from each age group: 10-14 and 15-17) will be chosen by Terry Pratchett, Nicholas Hytner, Guardian theatre critic Lyn Gardner and Mark Ravenhill. They will be broadcast live to 300 cinemas worldwide in January next year, as a curtainraiser to the National Theatre’s live broadcast of Nation. All 10 finalists, plus a parent/guardian, will win tickets to see Nation at the National theatre on 13 December.

There are links below to everything you will need to find out how enter, but do email us at nation.competition@guardian.co.uk if you have any questions. We’re keen to get as many young people as possible involved – and the prize is an amazing opportunity.

The extract from Nation : http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/oct/12/terry-pratchett-nation-extract

How to enter: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/oct/12/nation-competition

The Nation YouTube site: http://www.youtube.com/terrypratchettnation

Competition launch video: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/video/2009/oct/12/terry-pratchett-mark-ravenhill-nation

Full Terms and conditions: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/oct/13/terry-pratchett-nation-competition-rules

Writers give their advice to young filmmakers:

Mark Ravenhill: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/oct/12/nation-competition-adaptation-terry-pratchett

Michael Morpurgo: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/oct/12/michael-morpurgo-nation-competition

Philip Pullman: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/oct/12/philip-pullman-nation-competition