Playwright Keenan Scott II doesn’t take long with his play “Thoughts of a Colored Man” to settle into an extended scene set in a Brooklyn barbershop, where all seven men of this remarkable ensemble have gathered to talk and brainstorm. Until then, Scott has treated us to a few short set pieces that perform very much like the kinds of monologues actors write and perform in their acting classes.
These short speeches don’t make for the most promising introduction to the lives of the seven men featured in “Thoughts of a Colored Man,” which opened Wednesday at Broadway’s Golden Theatre, after its world premiere in 2019 at Syracuse Stage.