have sought the help of Tehran's best-established 'gender reassignment surgeon', Dr Bahram Mir Jalali, who has carried out about 460 sex change operations in the last 12 years. Relative to population, this is seven times the average number performed in the West.

It was Jalali who pioneered the idea that transexuals have a medical condition, which puts them beyond moral judgment. Feminine men in Iran are vulnerable to be pulled up by the authorities for anything that is seen as "corrupting society". Yet as transexuals they are even allowed documentation declaring their new identity.

But are ordinary gay men being forced to have the operation in order to conform to Iranian society? This question is examined in the award-winning film Be Like Others (right), directed by Iranian Tanaz Eshagian.

Tanaz pointed out becoming

transexual does not free the men from persecution. Seyf agrees, saying that many transexuals find it hard to find work in Iran, forcing them into prostitution. Jessica Stern of HRW states that the police have "created an atmosphere of terror for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people throughout Iran".

Seyf also points out that many men who have the sex change operation come from very traditional, conservative Iranian families. One mother told him: "I am looking forward to my son becoming a nice Muslim girl". Her son-turned-daughter became so traditional after the operation that her liberal male lover left, finding her too conservative.

And that's just one of the complexities tackled in Plastic, Seyf's entertaining, absurdist production.

'Plastic', August 1 - 24, Pleasance Under Grand, Edinburgh