From the Pulse festival in Ipswich to Brighton's 5x5, regional theatre is reaching beyond the mainstream says Lyn Gardner.

Keep It Local is the title of a debate that just took place at the New Wolsey in Ipswich, to kick off the Pulse festival, a 10-day extravaganza of new work from a wide range of artists and companies, many of whom have links with the east of England. The question is whether the streets of London are paved with gold for artists, and organisers hope to identify the role regional theatre can play in nurturing innovative new work and developing companies. It's a timely debate, because there appears to be some kind of shift happening: a change in the places new and often non-text-based or devised work is being made and seen.

Not only are we seeing the fast rise of micro-festivals – events such as the Junction Sampled, Harrogate's Two's Company or the Basement's 5x5 in Brighton – but regional theatres are increasingly throwing open their doors to companies that, in the past, they might have deemed a risky box-office proposition that didn't fit in with the rest of their programmes.

A lot of this work is not traditional new writing, and is the kind of stuff once seldom seen beyond London. Oxford Playhouse has been doing some interesting off-site work, while the Brewhouse in Taunton has a quirky little festival coming up called Inna Space; Slung Low, meanwhile, has recently worked with two major regional theatres, Liverpool Everyman and Hull Truck. The Ustinov in Bath has proved you can successfully develop audience appetite for work beyond the mainstream, and the Tobacco Factory in Bristol has opened up new spaces and is very much part of Mayfest, the annual event in which the city gets taken over by new work.

Read Lyn Gardner's full blog at http://bit.ly/jpXZbQ