The phrase "a simple portrayal" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when describing a straightforward or uncomplicated representation of something, often in art, literature, or analysis.
Example: "The artist's work is a simple portrayal of rural life, capturing the essence of the countryside with minimal detail."
Alternatives: "an uncomplicated depiction" or "a straightforward representation."
That something was a haunting, exquisitely simple portrayal of young dancers and the demanding art that is about to claim them at the start of their careers, though Balanchine scoffed at such interpretations.
"The mountain is swathed in such a dense and changing mystique that it eludes simple portrayal," says Thubron, hedging his bets.
By 2010, pressure to generate international sales, which now account for about 70 percent of Hollywood's worldwide ticket revenue, had pushed the simple portrayal of American lives almost completely off the big studio schedules in May, June and July.
Furthermore, financial transfers among siblings offset the significant, negative relationship between sibship size and education—a finding that challenges simple portrayals of siblings as competitors for scarce household resources.
Baker's portrayal of a simple girl prompted Kazan to cast her in Baby Doll (1956).
If his performance is the movie's flashiest, the film is anchored in Mr. Thomas's strong, low-key portrayal of a simple man following his own deeply humane instincts.
In her heart-wrenching portrayal of a simple peasant girl betrayed by the man she loves in "Giselle"; in the extreme, imploding articulations of Wayne McGregor's "Chroma"; or as the radiantly youthful princess of "The Sleeping Beauty," she brings an ineffable combination of steely strength and lyrical delicacy to her dancing that is ever-changing and ever-fascinating.
Bender wrote that Crane "emphasizes that Billie's steady, simple labor is the tangible basis for his role here as a savior," and that the oiler's portrayal as a "simple, working seaman, clearly expresses his sympathy with the democratic ideal of the sailor before the mast that figures so crucially in the tradition of American sea fiction".
Of course, there's something demystifying about this portrayal of romance as a simple struggle for power between two interested parties.
